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COLUMBIA AND CANADA 

NOTES ON THE GREAT REPUBLIC AND 
THE NEW DOMINION 

A SUPPLEMENT TO 

"WESTWARD BY RAIL" 



BY 



Wr FRASER RAE 



SECOND EDITION 



NEW YORK 

(> . P . PUTNAM'S SONS 

182 Fifth Avenue 

1S79 



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Dcbication. 

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 

WILLIAM EDWARD FORSTER, M.P. 

Dear Sir, — While dedicating this work to you with your per- 
mission, I wish to express my conviction that few living statesmen 
are more cordially in sympathy than yourself, alike with the great 
colonies of the British Empire, and the great country which, un- 
happily, has ceased to form one of its grandest members. For 
many years I have been engaged in preparing a history of that 
splendid off-shoot from the parent state. Partly with a view to 
acquu'e special information regarding the early and local annals of 
the country, and partly that I might be an eye-witness of a note- 
worthy spectacle, I revisited the United States in the year when 
the centenary of their independence was celebrated, and when the 
event was commemorated by an International Exhibition. This 
work is chiefly a record of what impressed me the most during 
that visit. It also contains the conclusions at which I have 
arrived concerning the relation of the Dominion of Canada to its 
powerful neighbour across the St. Lawrence and the Motherland 
across the Atlantic. I have shadowed forth in the course of it a 
new and simple plan for effecting that closer connexion between 
the English-speaking people of the earth which, in a memorable 
speech to the members of the Union League Club of I^ew York, 
and as memorable an address to the members of the Philosophical 
Institution of Edinburgh, you avowed to be one of the strongest 
desires of your heart. Believe me to be, faithfully yours, 

W. FEASEK RAE. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Bkidging the Atlaktic . . .... 1 



CHAPTER II. 

Feom the Thames to the Hudson .... 30 

CHAPTER III. 
The Empire City 44 

CHAPTER IV. 
The City of BnoTHEitLY Love ... . . 63 

CHAPTER Y. 
The International Exhibition of 1876 ... 82 

CHAPTER VI. 
Philadelphia during the Exhibition . . . 107 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Press and the People op Philadelphia . . 127 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The District op Columbia 141 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Capital of the Union 147 

CHAPTER X. 

The Capital of the Commonwealth of MAssACHisEiTb 10:.' 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XI. 

PAGE 

Saratoga and West Point 186 

CHAPTER XII. 
Sauatooa Spkings 195 

CHAPTER XIII. 
A Teip theough Canada 204 

CHAPTER XIV. 
The Pkovtnce of Ontario 218 

CHAPTER XV. 
Travellers and Bankers in North America . . 247 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Impressions of Toronto . . . . . . 252 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Toronto to Southampton ...... 260 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
A Retrospect and a Comparison .... 265 



1 HAVE Icarnod since the first chapter was in type that the feat recounted 
at page 21 of the Allan Steamer Peruvian has been surpassed by that of the 
White Star Steamer Britannic. The latter made the trip from the Mersey 
to the Hudson and back in 2^1 days and 7 hours iu September, and in 24 days 
and 3 hours iu November, 1876. I ought to have stated at page 27 that Mr. G. 
Ilauiilton Fletcher was joint founder and is joint manager of the Oceanic Steam 
Navigation Company, commonly called the White Star Line. 

At page 18, the British aud American Steam Navigation Company and the 
Great Western Company have been transposed ; the former were the owners of 
the President, and the latter of the Oreat Britain named at page 19. 



COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 



I. 

BEIDGTNG THE ATLANTIC. 

In 1776, it took ten days to go from Washington's 
camp before tlie town of Boston to the Hall in the 
city of Philadelphia where the Delegates from the 
thirteen United Colonies held their meetings; the 
same distance can be traversed now in as many 
hours. Less time is now required to cross the 
Atlantic than was expended a century ago in jour- 
neying between the capital of Massachusetts and 
the city of brotherly love. The shortest letter 
which our forefathers ever sent by post was written 
in a longer time than is now occupied in transmitting 
a message by telegraph between the continent of 
Europe and the continent of North America. Thus 
a peaceful revolution has been wrought which is 
without parallel or precedent. Had it been achieved 
at the middle of the eighteenth century, the revo- 
lution of 1776 might never have occurred, or might 
have been accomplished without deplorable shedding 
of blood. Certainly, the baleful slaughter at New 
Orleans, in 1814, would not have been a subject of 
unavaihng regret. 

On the 24th of December, 1814, a treaty of peace 



2 COLUMBIA A?TD CANADA. 

was signed at Ghent between the United States and 
the United Kingdom; on the 11th of February, 
1815, the welcome tidings were communicated to 
the United States Government. While the news 
was crossing the Atlantic, Sir Edward Pakenham, 
who had planned the capture of New Orleans, led his 
force to be shot down by the skilled marksmen whom 
General Jackson had massed behind impregnable 
entrenchments ; General Pakenham met his death 
at the head of the attacking column ; Major-General 
Gibbs, the second in command, fell also; Major- 
General Keane, the third in command, was disabled ; 
two thousand British soldiers, who had followed 
their chief with a stubbornness and fidelity meriting 
a better issue, were wounded or killed ; the loss on 
the other side was six men killed and seven men 
wounded. This butchery, which has been misnamed 
the Battle of New Orleans, first yielded General 
Jackson fame as a hero and afterwards secured for 
him the reward of election as President. The lives 
of many brave men would have been prolonged and 
the subsequent history of the United States might 
have taken another direction had it been possible in 
1814 to flash a message of peace through an electric 
cable under the sea, or to forward a despatch over 
it in a swift Cunarder. 

Before the dispute between the American Colonies 
and the Home Government grew embittered and porten- 
tous, and when an amicable adjustment of diff'erences 
seemed possible, it was proposed to allay the ferment 
by according to the Colonists representation in the 
Parliament of Great Britain. Such a proposal, when 
made in 17G9, was ridiculed by Edmund Burke in his 
trenchant style. Reverting to it in his magnificent 



BRIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 3 

but ineffectual speech on conciliation with America, 
he told the House of Commons, in 1775, that — 
" the last cause of this disobedient spirit in the 
colonies is hardij less powerful than the rest, as it is 
not merely moral, but laid deep in the natural con- 
stitution of things. Three thousand miles of ocean lie 
between you and them. No contrivance can prevent 
the effect of this distance, in weakening government. 
Seas roll and months pass between the order and 
the execution, and the want of a speedy explana- 
tion of a single point is enough to defeat a whole 
system." He said in another part of the same speech : 
" But let us suppose all these moral difficulties 
got over. The ocean remains. You cannot pump 
this dry ; and as long as it continues in its present 
bed, so long all the causes which weaken authority 
by distance will continue." Again : " You will 
doubtless imagine that I am on the point of pro- 
posing to you a scheme for a representation of the 
colonies in Parliament. Perhaps I might be inclined 
to entertain some such thought, but a great flood 
stops me in my course. Opposuit natura — I cannot 
remove the eternal barriers of the creation." 

The ocean has not yet been drained dry; the 
eternal barriers of the creation remain fixed and 
intact; but the swelling deep and other obstacles 
which appeared formidable and invincible to Burke, 
do not affect us with like sensations of impotence 
and dismay. Though not removed, they have been 
overcome or counteracted. The electric cable in 
the ocean's bed is as well fitted for binding together 
the inhabitants of the two worlds, as was Jupiter's 
golden chain in joining the upper and lower spheres 
in harmonious union. While the winds still blow 

B 2 



4 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

as they list and the billows rage as of old, the 
steamship carries goods aud passengers across the 
ocean with such regularity that the time occupied 
can be calculated beforehand ; doing this, too, at a 
rate of speed far in excess of the highest at which 
Burke ever drove between London and Beacons- 
field. The great flood which stopped him in his 
course can now be crossed with ease and certainty. 
The natural force of water in vapour has been found 
to be a match for that of water in the wave. — Natara 
invicta naturd vlncitur. 

Six years before Burke lamented in the House 
of Commons that the Atlantic Ocean formed an 
insuperable barrier to rapid intei communication 
between the North American Continent and the 
British Isles, James AVatt had obtained a patent for 
an engine with a double acting cylinder, — an inven- 
tion which was the source of all the subsequent 
improvements which have rendered steam as obe- 
dient as the lamp of the magician was to Aladdin, 
and more useful to mankind than any power yet 
exercised by a necromancer. The discovery of 
Watt was not perfected till it was too late for Burke 
using it as an argument and for the statesmen of 
his day profiting by its results. 

Two citizens of the United States, James Rumsey 
and John Fitch, were among the earliest experi- 
menters in steam navigation. Foiled in an attempt 
to obtain a patent for his invention from the State 
of Pennsylvania, the former visited England, where 
he obtained one in 1788. His scheme is not the 
first which has succeeded better on paper than in 
practice. M. Brissot, who saw him in England in 
1789, says that he had designed a steamboat which 



BRIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 5 

would cross the Atlantic in fifteen days; Rumsey 
went to his grave with his dream unfulfilled. Fitch, 
though more fortunate for a time, was the victim 
of as great a disappointment. In 1786, he pro- 
pelled a vessel by means of steam power, against the 
current of the river Potomac, at the rate of five 
miles an hour. One of his steamboats plied for a 
time on the Delaware, where it was seen in the 
autumn of 1788 by M. Brissot, who doubted 
whether it would prove practically serviceable, as 
several men were constantly engaged in keeping the 
machinery in order. ^ A series of paddles actuated 
by an engine moved this boat through the water 
much in the same way that a canoe is impelled 
along by paddles worked by hand ; the average 
speed was seven miles an hour. The inventor 
succeeded in propelling a vessel by steam power, 
but he signally failed in getting general credit 
for his ingenuity, or support from capitalists. Dr. 
Thornton, who aided him to the extent of his 
means, was jeered at as a dupe. Sensible men 
considered Fitch to be an over-sanguine projector : 
shaking their heads when they saw or talked about 
him, they said, " Poor fellow ; what a pity he is 
crazy !" According to them, an indisputable proof 
of his insanity was that he should have said in 
writing, when requesting the loan of £50, wherewith 
to complete his second steamboat, " This, sir, 
whether I bring it to perfection or not, will be the 
mode for crossing the Atlantic in time for packets 
and armed vessels." ^ 

* " Nouveau Voyage dans les Etats-Unis," par J. P. Erissot, 
vol. i. pp. 338, 339, 340. 

' See "History of Merchant Shipping," by W. S. Liutlsaj-, 



COLUMBIA AND CANADA, 

Fitcli is said to have built a yawl in 1796, which 
he moved through the water by means of a screw 
propeller. All his inventions brought him, however, 
but labour and sorrow. Oppressed by penury and 
spurned with contumely by those who might have 
immortalized themselves if they had opened their 
purses to him, he committed suicide in 1798. 

Forty-five years after Fitch had penned his pre- 
diction about crossing the Atlantic, Dr. Lardner 
delivered a lecture wherein, after admitting the 
possibility of a steamship making a trip from 
Valentia in Ireland, to St. Johns, in Newfound- 
land, he added, " As to the project, however, which 
was announced in the newspapers of making the 
voyage directly from New York to Liverpool, it 
was, he had no hesitation in saying, perfectly chi- 
merical, and they might as well talk of making a 
voyage from New York or Liverpool to the moon." 
Upwards of forty years have passed away since this 
dictum was uttered by a man of science, yet it still 
continues more correct to apply the term chimerical 
to voyages to the moon than to the trips of steamers 
between Liverpool and New York. 

Priority as to the invention of the steamboat has 
been the subject of much aimless controversy and 
many unfounded claims, the real point at issue 
being forgotten and left unanswered in the heat 
of discussion. Steam-engines, or fire-engines, as 
they were originally termed, were designed, manu- 
factured and employed long before Watt was born. 

vol. iv. p. 43. Several facts in tins chapter are taken from the 
fourth volume of Mr Lindsay's elaborate work. Those readers 
who desire further details will be amply repaid by turning to 
Mr. Lindsay's pregnant and pleasant pages. 



BKIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 7 

Though tlie steam-engine of the present day is a 
very different machine from the best engine which 
left the factory of Boulton and Watt, yet the fame 
and service of Watt are not lessened by the sub- 
sequent advances beyond his best achievements. 
Not the first projector, but the man who first 
renders an invention workable, is the man who 
ought to be thanked and praised. Now it is 
unquestionable that Mr. Symington perfected the 
earliest engine which transformed the steamboat 
from a theory into a reality. Fitch had previously 
caused vessels to be propelled by steam power, but 
no steamer on his plan has entered the water since 
he left the world. Symington's engine, on the 
other hand, is the model which has been followed 
by all succeeding designers of marine engines. In 
November, 1788, a boat propelled by paddle wheels 
actuated by Symington's engine moved across 
Dalswinton Loch at the rate of five miles an hour. 
In March, 1802, a vessel named the Charlotte 
Dimdas, fitted with engines planned by him, towed 
two barges of seventy tons burden, the distance of 
nineteen and a half miles on the Forth and Clyde 
Canal, in six hours' time against a gale of wind. 
The Duke of Bridgewater, being pleased with the 
result, ordered eight vessels to be built and engined 
on the same model. Dying soon after, his successor 
rescinded the order. Deprived of this patron, 
Symington died a pauper. 

The same year that Fitch went to his last home a 
broken-hearted and unappreciated inventor, Robert 
Fulton, a native of Pennsylvania, succeeded in 
moving a boat through the water by means of a 
screw propeller, which was actuated by a steam- 



8 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

engine. Trained as an engineer, Fulton aspired to 
become an artist : he proceeded to London, where 
he studied painting under West, living for a time by 
the scanty product of his pencil. Reverting to his 
original avocation, he went to France and proposed to 
the master of the French, who had resolved to become 
the conqueror of the English, a scheme for propelling 
the flotilla, collected at Boulogne for the invasion of 
England, across the channel by means of steam 
power. Returning to England in 1802, after this 
offer had been declined by Bonaparte, and when the 
second Armada was dispersed owing to the aban- 
donment of the enterprise for which it had been 
pompously assembled, Fulton visited Scotland, saw 
the Gharlotte Dundas steamer on the Clyde, took a 
trip in her along with Symington, her designer, and 
was permitted to make drawings of the vessel and 
her machinery ; thereafter, he went to Birmingham, 
where he ordered Messrs. Boulton and Watt to make 
a set of engines for him on the same model. Cross- 
ing the Atlantic, he built a vessel at New York in 
concert with Mr. Chancellor Livingstone, whose ac- 
quaintance he had made at Paris, some years pre- 
viously, when Mr. Livingstone was United States' 
Minister there. This vessel, which was named the 
Clermont, after Mr. Livingstone's country seat on 
the Hudson, was launched in 1807, and fitted 
with the steam machinery which had been manufac- 
tured at Birmingham and forwarded to the United 
States. 

To the surprise of the public of New York, the 
Clermont moved through the waters of the Hudson 
at the rate of five miles an hour, and did so 
despite the resistance of an adverse wind and a 



BEIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 9 

strong current. Thus the journey between New York 
and the capital of the State could be performed by- 
means of this steamer with a regularity which no sail- 
ing craft could equal. A trip, which used to occupy a 
space of time varying from a fortnight to forty-eight 
hours, could be made, in 1807, within the space of a 
single complete day, and can now be made in less 
than ten hours. The masters of the sailing packets 
tried to get rid of a dangerous rival by running her 
down. This extreme and hazardous form of compe- 
tition was ended when an act of the Legislature of the 
State of New York made it punishable with fine and 
imprisonment. 

Not believing that he had invented anything in 
building and fitting up this steamboat, Fulton re- 
frained from applying for a patent ; but he success- 
fully petitioned the Legislature for an exclusive 
privilege to navigate the rivers of the State of New 
York with steam-vessels, during a term of years. A 
like concession had been made to Fitch in 1786 : 
Fulton, however, was unaware of this, and the Legis- 
lators seem to have forgotten it. Harassing and 
wasteful litigation was the only fruit of the privilege 
which had been conferred on him, the result being 
the withdrawal of the concession. He designed 
other vessels ; he invented the torpedo, which ap- 
pears destined to revolutionize naval warfare ; he was 
an honour to his country, and he died in 1815 a 
neglected, a heart-broken, and a ruined man. After 
death, his countrymen ascribed to him the sole 
merit of having invented the steamboat, a claim 
which he himself never thought of preferring. He 
performed an indisputable service of scarcely in- 
ferior value, the introduction of the steamboat into 



10 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

the United States. This achievement deserved a 
more tangible reward than the exaggerated praise 
which excites controversy, combined with the 
hollowest of all mockeries, posthumous fame. 

Two years after the Clermont began to ply on 
the Hudson, the Accommodation steamer ran on 
the St. Lawrence between Montreal and Quebec. 
The surface of three great rivers on the American 
continent, the Delaware, the Hudson, and the St. 
Lawrence, was furrowed by steam-vessels before 
the tenth year of the nineteenth century. Not till 
1812 did the Comet, built by Henry Bell, ply on the 
Clyde. There, as on the Hudson, opposition ren- 
dered the speculation unremunerative. Henry Bell, 
like Symington, Fitch, and Fulton, died in poverty, 
the fate commonly reserved for the real benefactors 
of mankind. 

After a beginning in steam navigation had been 
made, the progress was rapid. In 1815, a steam- 
boat appeared on the Thames; the public rejoiced 
at the sight ; the watermen denounced the innova- 
tion as hurtful to their interests. In 1819, the first 
steamboat crossed the Atlantic. She was called the 
Savannah, and started from the city of that name 
on the 25tli of May, arriving at Liverpool on the 
20th of June. Off the Land's End she was hailed 
by Lieutenant John Bowie, in command of a revenue 
cutter ; wishing to board her, he was puzzled to see 
her go along with bare poles at a greater speed than 
his own craft under a press of canvas, and he had 
to fire a gun in order to make her lie to. The 
Sacannah remained at Liverpool for a month, during 
which she was visited by sight-seers from all parts 
of the kingdom ; thence she proceeded to St. Peters- 



BRIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 11 

burg, starting on her return voyage to the United 
States on the 10th of October, and reaching Savannah 
on the 30th of November. Soon after, she was 
shipwrecked on Long Island during a voyage from 
Savannah to New York. 

On the 18th of August, 1833, the Eoyal William, 
which had been built at Three Eivers, Canada, 
sailed from Quebec, arriving at Grravesend on the 
11th of September. Her voyage would have 
occupied a shorter time, had she not been detained 
for three days at Nova Scotia. This was the 
second steamship which crossed the Atlantic. Both 
had started from the North American continent, the 
one from the State of Georgia, at the extreme south, 
the other from the Province of Lower Canada, at 
the extreme north. Not till 1838, nineteen years 
after the first of these two ventures, and five years 
after the second, did a steamer start from Great 
Britain for the continent of North America. On the 
4th of April in that year, the steamer Sirius left 
London, and was followed three days afterwards by 
the Great Western from Bristol, both being bound 
for New York, which the former reached after a 
passage of seventeen and the latter of fifteen days. 
The return voyages were made in sixteen and four- 
teen days respectively. The Sirius never crossed 
the Atlantic again ; she afterwards plied between 
the Thames and the Neva, her place being taken by 
a second Boyal William, the Canadian one having 
been sold to the Portuguese Government, which 
left Liverpool on the 6th of July, 1838, making 
the voyage out in nineteen and home in four- 
teen and a half days. This Eoyal William was 
the first of the steamships which have brought 



12 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

the dwellers on the Mersey and the Hudson into 
regular intercommunication. 

The autumn of I808 was an epoch in the history 
of transatlantic steam navigation. Determining to 
relinquish sending the mails across the Atlantic in 
ten-gun brigs, and to arrange for their conveyance 
in steamships, the Admiralty then invited tenders 
for the performance of the work. The partners in 
the Great Western Steam-shipping Company and 
owners of the Great Western and Great Liverpoul 
steamers, were confident of having proved their title 
to be employed ; however, to their surprise and 
mortification, a lower tender than theirs was sent in 
by Messrs. Cunard, Burns, and Maclver, and ac- 
cepted. The latter firm undertook to carry the 
mails between Liverpool and Halifax, twice each 
way every month; t^vice in every month between 
Halifax and Boston, when the navigation of the St. 
Lawrence was unimpeded by ice, and also between 
Pictou, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, in return for an 
annual subsidy of £60,000. When this contract was 
renewed at the end of a year, the subsidy was raised 
to £80,000. Not till 1848 did the contractors 
arrange to run steamers between Ijiverpool and 
New York. From June, 1840, to December, 18G8, 
the Cunard Company entered into thirteen postal 
contracts, the last, implying the payment of a sub- 
sidy, was terminated at the end of December, 1876. 
During the five years preceding the latter date the 
annual subsidy was £70,000, being less than half 
what had been paid at one period, and only £10,000 
in excess of the first payment. Seldom, if ever, has 
the money of the nation been expended to better 
advantage. Mr. Samuel Cunard, who had contem- 



BEIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 13 

plated such a service as far back as tlie year 1830, 
was a native of Nova Scotia. To his foresight, 
coupled with the shrewdness and business aptitude 
of his two Scottish partners, Mr. Burns and Mr. 
Maclver, is due the most successful and praise- 
worthy of modern shipping enterprises. Sir Hugh 
Allan, another colonist of Scottish birth, has ener- 
getically followed in the steps of his great fore- 
runner. 

The four steamers, built on the Clyde to begin 
the Cunard mail service, were superior in all 
respects to those which the company had under- 
taken to supply ; they were named the Britannia, 
the Acadia, the Caledonia, and the Golumhia. On 
the 4th of July, 1840, the Britannia left Liver- 
pool for Boston, calling at Halifax. She made the 
voyage out and home at a speed of eight-and-a- 
half knots an hour. Being frozen up in Boston 
harbour during the winter of 1844, the public- 
spirited merchants of that city caused a channel, 
seven miles long and 100 feet wide, to be cat 
in the ice at their own expense in order that 
the Britannia might reach the open sea.^ Sir 
Charles Lyell was a passenger in this vessel when 
he crossed the Atlantic in 1845. Encountering a 
hurricane, she weathered it in a way which excited 
general satisfaction. Among the passengers " were 
some experienced American sea captains, who had 

* Mr. Lindsaj'^, in his " History of Merchant Shipping," voL iv. 
p. 183, is in error in stating that this incident occurred during the 
first voyage of the Britannia. I am indebted to Mr. John 
Burns for being able to correct this mistake, and to supply other 
details of general interest about the renowned company of which 
he is the accomplislied head. 



14 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

commanded vessels of their own round Cape Horn ; 
and, being now for the first time in a steamer at 
sea, were watching with professional interest the 
Britannia^s behaviour in the storm. They came 
to the conclusion that one of those vessels, well 
appointed, with a full crew, skilled officers, and good 
engineers, was safer than any sailing packet."* 
Charles Dickens made his first and memorable 
voyage to the United States in the Britannia. 

Between this Cunarder and one of recent build 
the contrast is marvellous. The Britannia was 
built of wood; the Bothnia is constructed of iron. 
The former was 1,139 tons burden; the latter is 
4,535. The former was 207 feet in length, 34 feet 
2 inches in breadth, and 22 feet 4 inches in depth ; 
the latter is 445 feet in length, 42 feet 6 inches 
in breadth, and 36 feet in depth. The former 
carried 225 tons of cargo ; the latter carries 3,000. 
The former had accommodation for 90 first-class 
passengers ; the latter can accommodate 340 in the 
saloon, and 800 in the steerage. The nominal 
horse power of the former was 425, that of the 
latter is 507 ; yet the Bothnia^ which is propelled 
by a screw, can steam at the rate of thirteen 
knots an hour, whereas the Britannia which was a 
paddle steamer, could not attain the speed of nine 
knots. More noteworthy still is the fact that the 
furnaces of the vessel, which is propelled through 
the water at the higher rate of speed, require 
less than half the quantity of fuel which was con- 
sumed in those of the slower ship. It is even more 
extraordinary that, from the year 1840, down to the 
present day, not a single passenger's life has been 

* " Travels in Nortli America," vol. i. ^. 2. 



BEIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 15 

lost, and not a single letter lias gone astray on 
board a Cunard steamer, owing to the perils of tlie 
sea. By transporting upwards of 2,000,000 pas- 
sengers in safety across the stormy and dangerous 
Atlantic, the Cunard Company have performed the 
most marvellous feat in the annals of steam navi- 
gation. 

The immunity from preventible accidents enjoyed 
by this company is susceptible of easy explanation. 
All their vessels have been built on the most approved 
models, and of the very best materials. 'Not an 
inferior sheet of iron, inefficient bolt, or imperfect 
plank can be found in one of them from stem to 
stern. None is ever sent to sea with a known 
defect, even though the defect should be trivial in 
appearance, and might not hinder the vessel making 
the voyage in perfect safety, provided the weather 
was moderately good. It is the inflexible rule of the 
company to be prepared to face the worst at any 
moment, never trusting to chance, or hoping for 
good-luck. Thus, when the worst comes, it can be 
met without apprehension. Discipline is enforced 
with a stringency which is not surpassed, possibly is 
not equalled, on board a crack frigate. That fatal 
yet common form of false economy which consists in 
reducing the number of the crew to the minimum 
necessary for navigating the ship, is rightly eschewed 
by this company. An accident costs more than the 
wages of a few extra seamen ; the presence of the 
extra seamen may tend to avert a serious accident. 
The officers are all well acquainted with their duties, 
and are expected to perform them with uniform and 
unremitting precision. Zeal never goes unrewarded, 
nor is neglect ever pardoned. 



IG COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

When an accident happens, skill and discipline 
tell. An accident which might have become a 
catastrophe was dealt with in the following manner 
on board the Britannia when she was under the 
command of Captain Harrison. The account is from 
the pen of Mr. J. T. Fields : — " A happier company 
never sailed upon an autumn sea. The story-tellers 
are busy with their yarns to audiences of delighted 
listeners. The ladies are lying about on couches or 
shawls, reading or singing; children are taking 
hands, and racing up and down the decks — when 
with a quick cry from the look-out, and a rush of 
oflficers and men, we are grinding on a ledge of rocks 
off Cape Race. One of those strong currents, always 
mysterious, and sometimes impossible to foresee, had 
set us into shore out of our course, and the ship was 
blindly beating on a dreary coast of sharp and craggy 
rocks. . . . Suddenly we heard a voice, up in the 
fog that surrounded us, ringing like a clarion above 
the roar of the waves, and the clashing sounds on 
shipboard, and it had in it an assuring, not a 
fearful sound. As the orders came distinctly and 
deliberately through the captain's trumpet to " shift 
the cargo," to " back her," and to " keep her steady," 
we felt somehow that the commander up there in the 
thick mist knew what he was about, and that through 
his skill and courage, by the blessing of Heaven, we 
shoidd all be rescued. The man who saved us, so 
far as human aid ever saved drowning mortals, was 
one fully competent to command a ship." 

Another story, which has not yet appeared in 
print, is even more instructive ; it was told to me by 
a gentleman who was a passenger on board the 
steamship Atlas from Boston to Liverpool. My 



BRIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 17 

informant sailed for Liverpool in the winter months. 
The voyage was devoid of incident till the vessel 
reached mid-ocean, when one evening the monotony of 
the trip was unexpectedly varied. The weather was 
tempestuous, so that the first-class passengers, prefer- 
ring the warmth and shelter of the saloon at nightfall 
to the discomfort of the gloomy sky and spray- washed 
deck, were there engaged either in readmg, or in play- 
ing at cards, draughts, or chess. The captain, who had 
entered the saloon for a few minutes only, suddenly 
hurried on deck, after the boatswain appeared and 
w^hispered a few words in his ear. A passenger, 
whose sense of hearing was very acute, overheard 
the ominous phrase, " The ship is on fire, sir." He 
went on deck, being followed by others to whom he 
had communicated what was said. There they saw 
a thick column of dense smoke rising from the 
forward hatcli. One of them returned to the saloon 
and told the horrible news. Anxiety was manifested 
as to how soon the fire would be extinguished ; but 
there was little excitement, and no sign of panic, 
most of the players resuming their games, and the 
readers returning to their books. Confidence was 
evidently felt that everything which mortals could 
do to avert a dread calamity would be performed. 
In the steerage, on the contrary, there was ignorance 
without self-possession; women shrieked, men 
rushed about in aimless despair. The first-class 
passengers, who wished to make themselves useful, 
and offered to aid the crew, were asked to help in 
carrying the terror-stricken men, women, and 
children from the steerage, where they were in the 
way, to the poop, where they would give less trouble. 
These passengers refused to be comforted, or to be 



18 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

quiet ; their groans and lamentations alone disturbed 
the apparent harmony of the hour. The crew and 
the officers were as cool and reticent as if nothing 
unusual had happened. The officer on duty walked 
the bridge, giving his entire attention to navigating 
the ship ; the men on the look-out were at their posts ; 
the engineers were in their places in the engine- 
room ; the stewards were at their usual work ; 
indeed, the business of the ship went on like clock- 
work, while a fire was raging in the hold, and all on 
board were in jeopardy. At the end of half an hour 
from the alarm being given, the boatswain said the 
ladies might be informed that the danger was nearly 
over; in truth, the fire had been thoroughly 
mastered, and all danger was at an end. It was 
ascertained that the cause of the fire was the ignition 
of- some combustibles which had been shipped 
against the rules of the company, and without the 
knowledge of the company's servants at Boston. 
The manner in which this accident was faced and 
foiled had the natural result of making every sensible 
passenger feel increased confidence in the discipline 
and direction which prevail on board a Cunarder. 

For some time after the Cunard Company had 
carried the mails between this country and the con- 
tinent of North America, the British and American 
Steam Navigation Company maintained a keen but 
futile rivalry with them. A parliamentary inquiry 
proved that no exception could justly be taken to 
the manner in which the Cunard Company executed 
what they had undertaken. With a view to outstrip 
all competitors, the Great Western Company had 
become the owners of the President, a steamer 
which was expected to surpass every rival. Launched 



BRIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 19 

on the 7th of December, 1839, she made a few voyages 
between Great Britain and the United States ; she 
ought to have returned to this country in April, 
1841, but was never heard of again. Determined 
not to be baffled, the company resolved upon making 
a still bolder bid for supremacy on the Atlantic by 
arranging for the construction of a vessel which 
should outvie any one afloat in novelty of design, 
in size and in speed. This was the Great Britain : 
she was constructed of iron, this was one novelty ; 
she was propelled by a screw, this was another ; her 
dimensions were then regarded as huge beyond 
comparison : she was 321 feet long, 51 feet broad, 
and 2,984 tons burden ; she was launched at Bristol 
on the 19th of July, 1843. After arriving in the 
Thames, she was visited by the Queen and Prince 
Albert, and thousands of eager sight-seers. In 
December, 1843, she started for the United States, 
but did not get farther on her voyage than Dundrum 
Bay, on the coast of Ireland, where she was stranded, 
and lay at the mercy of the wind and the waves for 
a whole winter. This unusual test, which caused 
no irreparable damage, demonstrated the solidity of 
her build. When floated off in the spring and re- 
fitted, she was employed as a passenger ship between 
this country and Australia, and continued for nearly 
a quarter of a century to be the favourite ship in 
that service. Her fame as a giant among vessels 
was not eclipsed till the Great Eastern was launched 
on the 31st of January, 1858. It was intended that 
she should be employed as a passenger ship in the 
Australian trade, but just as the Great Britain never 
made a voyage to the United States, so the Great 
Eastern never made a voyage to Australia. Though 

c 2 



20 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

both disappointed the expectations of their designers, 
yet the Great Britain has done good service by bring- 
ing the continent of Australasia into closer union 
with the motherland, while the Great Eastern^ by her 
adaptability for laying telegraph cables in the Atlan- 
tic, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean, has made 
for herself a proud name among ships. 

The success of the English Steamship Companies 
provoked jealousy, and consequent rivalry on the 
part of companies in the United States. An attempt 
at international competition was made in 1847, when 
the merchants of New York established a line of 
steamships to run between that city and Bremen, 
Southampton being a port of call. The Washing- 
ton, the first steamer of the new line, left New 
York for Southampton the same day in June, 1847, 
that the Britannia started for Liverpool. The 
former was the more powerful vessel of the two. 
The New York Herald, with its wonted and exuberant 
patriotism, wrote to the effect that, if the Bri- 
tannia means to beat the Washington, she "will 
have to run by the deep mines and put in more 
coal." Without visiting these mysterious coaling 
stations, the Britannia won the race by two days. 

This failure to out-do the Cunard line did not 
hinder the United States Congress from encouraging 
another attempt of the same character. Mr. E. K. 
Collins, the owner of a swift line of sailing ships 
between New York and Liverpool, having offered to 
run a line of steamers between these two ports. 
Congress granted him a subsidy of £175,750 in con- 
sideration of four steamers being provided for the 
service. This was more than double the sum paid 
to the Cunard Company at the outset. The steamers 



BEIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 21 

of the Collins line were well built, were comfortable 
to the verge of luxury, and they were the fastest that 
had ever traversed the ocean. Their speed was 
attained at a great cost. It was necessary to ex- 
pend upwards of £200,000 yearly, in order to 
shorten the trips across the Atlantic by a day and a 
half. From January, 1852, to November in that 
year inclusive, the Collins steamers transported 
2,420 passengers from New York to Liverpool, and 
1,886 from Liverpool to New York, whereas the 
Cunarders transported 1,186 the one way, and 
1,783 the other. The citizens of the United States 
were naturally exultant, believing that they had at 
length succeeded, to employ the words of a Report 
to the Senate, in hindering the " Queen of the 
Ocean levying her imposts upon the industry and 
intelligence of all the nations that frequent the 
highway of the world." Commerce profited by the 
competition. Two years after the establishment 
of the Collins line, the rate of freight had fallen from 
£7 10s. a ton to £4. 

During a dense fog on the 1st of September, 
1854, the Collins steamer Arctic came into collision 
with the French steamer Vesta, sixty miles to 
the south-east of Cape Race. The Arctic had 
on board 233 passengers, a crew numbering 135, 
and a valuable cargo. The Vesta had on board 
147 passengers, and a crew numbering fifty. Think- 
ing that the Vesta was about to founder, several 
of the passengers and crew sought safety by getting 
on board the Arctic; a boat, containing thirteen 
persons who tried to do so, was swamped, and all 
in it were drowned. The Captain of the Vesta 
succeeded in bringing his ship, with the persons 



22 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

who had remained on board, into St. Johns, New- 
foundland. The Arctic never touched land again; 
only fourteen passengers and thirty-one of her crew 
reached the shore alive. The wife, a son, and a 
daughter of Mr. Collins were among the missing. 

On the 3rd of January, 1856, the Collins steamer 
Pacific left Liverpool, with forty-one passengers 
and a crew numbering 141 ; she had the mails on 
board and a full cargo, valued at half a million 
sterling. She was never afterwards heard of. 
Though the Adriatic was built to replace one of 
the vessels that had been lost, yet in 1858 the 
Company gave up the struggle in despair. The 
annual loss was greater than the shareholders could 
sustain, and the subsidy had been withdrawn. 
The enterprise deserved a happier fate. When the 
line was projected, Mr. Senator Bayard said in Con- 
gress : " We must have speed, extraordinary speed, 
a speed with which the Collins steamers can over- 
take any vessel which they pursue, and escape from 
any vessel they wish to avoid ; they must be fit for 
the purpose of a cruiser, with armaments to attack 
your enemy — if that enemy were Great Britain — in 
her most vital part, her commerce." A nobler 
feeling than enmity to Great Britain might have 
inspired the advocates of this undertaking. The 
ocean is wide enough for the vessels of all nations. 
Great Britain, which has never yet feared or suc- 
cumbed to rivalry on that element, expressed no 
unseemly pleasure when the failure of the Collins 
Line left the Cunard Company without formidable 
competitors on the Atlantic. 

It was on the 17th of December, 1850, the 
year when Mr. Senator Bayard looked forward 



BRIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 23 

with patriotic selfishness and complacency to the 
Collins steamers " sweeping the seas," that the 
iron screw steamer the City of Glasgow left Liver- 
pool for Philadelphia. She was the property of 
the Liverpool, New York and Philadelphia Steam- 
ship Company, of which Mr. William Inman was 
managing director, a company which now enjoys 
world-wide renown as the Inman Line. Mr. Inman 
had the foresight to perceive, when the majority of 
shipowners and shipbuilders held a contrary opinion, 
that iron was the best material wherewith to fashion 
Atlantic steamers, and that the screw was the best 
means for propelling them. Till the year 1857, 
the Inman steamers ran fortnightly between Liver- 
pool and Philadelphia; in that year they ran to 
New York also ; after the suspension of the Collins 
Line the Inman took its place, carrying the United 
States Mails. In 1860, this company despatched 
a steamer weekly ; in 1863, thrice a fortnight ; in 
1866, twice weekly during the summer months. 
These vessels have maintained the reputation which 
they early gained for size, comfort, and speed. In 
one of them, the City of Faris, the Duke of Con- 
naught was carried from Cork to Halifax in six 
days and twenty-one hours. Two of them, the 
City of Chester and the City of Berlin, are among 
the finest and fastest steamers afloat. The latter is 
520 feet in length, and has accommodation for 
1,702 passengers, in addition to a crew of upwards 
of 100. Unlike the Cunard Company, however, the 
Inman Line cannot boast of freedom from fatal 
casualties. One of the saddest occurred in 1870, 
when the City of Boston left Halifax for Liverpool 
and disappeared. 



24 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

In 1852, about the time that the Collins Line 
was founded in the United States and the Inman 
Line in England, and twelve years after the first 
Cunarder had crossed the ocean, the Government 
of Canada arranged for the carriage of the mails 
between Liverpool and Quebec. The contractors 
were Messrs. M'Clean, M'Clarty, and Lament of, 
Liverpool. They were succeeded by Messrs. Allan, 
who began in 1856 a steam service between Canada 
and Great Britain which deserves to be cited 
among striking illustrations of perseverance and 
pluck. 

At the outset, the Allan Line met with many 
mishaps. The North Atlantic is as trying to the 
na\dgator as the Baltic at its worst. Dangers due 
to fog and ice are encountered during most months 
of the year; while perils from sunken rocks and 
treacherous currents have to be faced at all seasons. 
Yet the steamers of the Allan Line, which in size, 
speed and luxury are equal to the best, run with 
regularity across the ocean between the ports of 
Quebec and Halifax in Canada, Portland and Balti- 
more in the United States, and those of Liverpool 
and Glasgow in the United Kingdom. One of these 
steamers is famed for having^ made the shortest 
recorded voyage out and home. On the 16th of 
December, 18G4, the Peruvian left Moville for 
Portland at G.2-1 p.m.; after having discharged her 
cargo and taken fresh cargo on board, she arrived 
at Moville on her return voyage at 9.15 a.m., on 
the loth of January, 1865; the time occupied in the 
double voyage being only twenty-four days, fifteen 
hours. 

When Dr. Lardner pronounced the scheme of 



BEIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 25 

running steamers directly between Liverpool and 
New York to be perfectly chimerical, he said that it 
was quite feasible to run steamers between Valentia 
in Ireland, and St. Johns in Newfoundland. His 
plan comprised a journey by rail from London to 
Liverpool, by water from Liverpool to Dublin, by 
rail from Dublin to Valentia, and by sea from 
Valentia to St. Johns, thence by sea to Halifax and 
finally to New York. The absence of a railway 
between Dublin and Valentia rendered this scheme 
as chimerical as that which had been condemned. 
Nearly a quarter of a century later. Dr. Lardner's 
proposition was revived, with the difference that the 
port of Galway was to be the place of departure in 
L^eland, and New York or Boston the port of arrival 
on the North American Continent. A company 
was formed to carry out the undertaking ; it was 
styled the Royal Atlantic Steam Navigation Com- 
pany, and was generally known as the Galway Line. 
In Ireland it was hailed as a national enterprise, 
one fraught with promise and pride to the country, 
and certain to prove a source of vast pecuniary 
profit. A subsidy of £3,000 for each voyage out 
and home was accorded by the Government. 

This service began on the 27th of June, 1860, and 
ended in May, 1861. Its story, which needs not 
be told in detail, was one of miscarriage and 
disaster. One vessel, the Gonnaught, was lost ; 
a second, the Hibernia, was so much damaged 
during her preliminary trip as to be unfitted for 
employment ; a third, the Golu7nbia, was so 
greatly injured by coming in contact with ice off" 
Newfoundland, as to take upwards of twenty days 
in reaching Boston. The company had contracted 



26 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

to carry the mails from shore to shore in six days ; 
but failed in doing so till they purchased the Collins 
Steamer Adriatic^ which made the passage from 
Ireland to Newfoundland in six days, returning in 
five days, nineteen hours, and forty-five minutes ; 
being the fastest trip which, till then, had been made 
from shore to shore. The failures of the Collins and 
the Galway Lines cannot be chronicled without regi*et 
that so much capital and so much laudable energy 
and skill should have been expended in vain. 

In 1863, the National Steam Navigation Company 
was formed in Liverpool. Its promoters purposed 
trading with the southern ports of the United 
States, as soon as the civil war came to an end. 
The war lasting longer than was expected, they 
resolved to run their steamers between Liverpool 
and New York. No larger vessels than those of 
the National line had then crossed the Atlantic; 
the size ranged from 3,000 to 3,500 tons burden. 
In 1864, three more of still larger tonnage were 
built for the company, other three in the succeeding 
two years, the result being that the National line 
possesses a fleet of steamers as fine as any which 
traverse the sea. A vessel starts weekly between 
Liverpool and New York, and fortnightly between 
London and New Y^ork. This company has been 
managed with marked ability; not a single pas- 
senger has lost his life through accident to one of 
their steamers. The excellent plan has been adopted 
of giving the captains and the chief officers of a 
National steamer a handsome sum by way of bonus 
every six months, in the event of the vessels under 
their care going from port to port free from preven- 
tible injury. The company's orders are to carry the 



BRIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 27 

vessels and all on board in safety, and to aim at 
safety rather tban speed. Other companies have 
the like desire and give the same injunctions ; but 
none of them, the Cunard always excepted, is more 
rigid in insisting on their observance than the 
National Company. 

Messrs. Handy side and Henderson began to run 
steamers, in 1865, every fortnight between Glasgow 
and New York ; their steamers now run weekly 
from Glasgow and fortnightly from London. This 
is known as the Anchor line. The Anchor vessels 
enjoy a reputation in Scotland which is thoroughly 
merited. In 1866 the Liverpool and Great Western 
Steamship Company began business in Liverpool; 
this is the well-known Guion Line. Neither the 
Anchor nor the Guion Line can take credit for 
having escaped serious accidents. 

The most notable event in the recent history of 
Atlantic navigation is the establishment of the 
White Star line of steamers in the year 1870. 
Messrs. Ismay, Imrie, and Co., the principal pro- 
prietors of this line, then made a step in advance of 
all competitors. They employed Messrs. Harland 
and Wolff of Belfast to build steamers for them, 
and such steamers had never been launched before. 
Their speed is very great. To style them floating 
palaces is to use the language of sober truth, and 
not to indulge in hyperbole. Indeed, the ship- 
builders of Belfast have taught some useful lessons 
to their brethren on the Thames and the Tyne, the 
Mersey and the Clyde. 

A sketch of the establishment and progress of 
Atlantic steam-shipping companies would be in- 
complete without a mention of the endeavours made 



28 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

by citizens of the United States to succeed in the 
attempt wherein Mr. Collins failed. Mr. Vanderbilt 
vainly expended a considerable sum of money in 
such a venture. A Boston company made a similar 
and an equally fruitless effort ; two handsome screw 
steamers, the Erie and the Ontario, belonging to 
them, made several trips between their city and 
Liverpool ; the outlay being far in excess of the 
receipts, the enterprise had to be abandoned. The 
capitalists of New York and Boston having proved 
unable to command success, those of Philadelphia 
determined to see whether they could not do better. 
The latter established what they style the American 
Line, in concert with the wealthy and powerful 
Pennsylvania Railway. If this line of passenger 
steamships, which crosses the ocean under the flag 
of the United States, can maintain a successful com- 
petition with its German, French and English rivals, 
the travelling public will be the gainer. 

The other lines of steamships which help to bridge 
the Atlantic are the State, which starts from 
Glasgow ; the Dominion and the Beaver, the Warren 
and the Leyland, which start from Liverpool; the 
Wilson, which starts from Hull, the Great Western 
from Bristol, and the Temperley from London ; the 
Transatlantic and the Hamburg, which touch at 
Plymouth; and the North German Lloyd, which 
touches at Southampton. 

The record of Atlantic steam navigation, from 
the year 1840 down to the present day, has been 
one of extraordinary and unceasing progress. It 
was thought to be a great feat, at one time, for 
a steamer to start every week from either side 
of the ocean ; several now start, as a matter of 



BEIDGING THE ATLANTIC. 29 

course, from both sides weekly. Before the era of 
steam, it was a subject of congratulation when the 
voyage was completed in a month ; ten days is now 
the average length of the voyage by one of the fast 
lines, so that, as has been already remarked, it takes 
no longer time to go from the British Isles to the 
North American continent than was consumed in 
1776 during the journey between the town of Boston 
and the city of Philadelphia. The trade with the 
United States from Liverpool alone is greater at the 
present day than the trade of Liverpool with all the 
world before the advent of the steamship. Seneca's 
prediction in his Medea has been fulfilled : the ultima 
Thule of the ancient Romans has ceased to be the 
farthest point of the habitable globe ; the Atlantic 
ocean, instead of being a wide barrier to intercom- 
munication, has become a convenient highway for 
commercial intercourse. It was the wish of Silas 
Deane, in which Jefferson concurred, that there 
should be an ocean of fire between the Old World 
and the New. No sane man, now living, would 
cherish or countenance so diabolical a desire. 



30 



II. 

FROM THE THAMES TO THE HUDSON. 

The port of London, wliicli was a favourite place of 
arrival and departure for transatlantic travellers, in 
the days when sailing packets had no competitors, is 
now comparatively neglected by them ; the Thames 
having become less attractive in this respect than 
the Mersey and the Clyde. Recently, however, 
vigorous efforts have been made to regain for the 
capital of England some of its lost credit, as a port 
for Atlantic traffic. Two companies well known in 
Liverpool and Glasgow, have started lines of steamers 
between the Victoria Docks and the wharfs on the 
North River, thereby bringing London into direct 
steam communication with New York. One is the 
National, the other the Anchor Company. 

Having already had personal experience of the 
steamers of the Cunard and North German Lloyd 
Companies, and desiring to sail from the Thames, I 
took a passage for the United States in the Canada^ 
belonging to the National line. The boats which 
this company despatch from London every fortnight 
are not quite so large as those which start from 
Liverpool, yet the. Canada is of 4,275 tons burden, 
being three times larger than the famous Bri- 
tannia^ the pioneer steamer of the Cunard line. 



PEOM TEE THAMES TO THE HUDSON. 31 

There is an inconvenience connected with embarking 
at the Victoria Docks, and at some other docks also, 
which could easily be remedied. This is the demand 
made for dock dues upon passengers' luggage. Such 
a toll, like the steward's fee, is perfectly justifiable, 
but it would save annoyance, at a time when passen- 
gers are in no humour to be troubled unnecessarily^, 
if the payment for these dues, like that for the 
steward's fee, were included in the passage-money. 
The minor worries of life are due to a multiplicity of 
small payments. These docks are well fitted for pro- 
longing the excitement of parting from friends ; the 
steamer leaves the landing-place very slowly,; about 
an hour elapses before she is in the river and fairly 
under way, and, by coming from the landing-place 
to the dock gates, relatives and friends have another 
chance to repeat their good wishes to the voyagers. 
Judging from observation, I should say that both 
parties weary of making these a^ectionate demon- 
strations long before the opportunity for doing so 
has passed. Whilst the vessel is in the quiet 
waters of the river the passengers, who are doubtful 
about the steadiness of their legs and the strength 
of their stomachs when sailing over the salt waves, 
can settle down in their berths with greater comfort 
than if they were at once called upon to prove their 
sea-going qualities, and they can attend the first 
dinner on board ship with reasonable confidence 
that they will enjoy it. By the time tea is over we 
have entered the English Channel, where a fresh 
breeze is blowing, and the surface is more undu- 
lating than that of the River Thames. Passengers 
who suffer in the short chopping seas of the English 
Channel are wont to think that, if the steamers 



32 rOLUMBTA AND CANADA. 

wbicli ply between Dover and Ostend or Calais, 
were as large as those which cross the Atlantic, the 
brief voyage would be much more pleasant. Now, I 
have seen vessels of the largest tonnage pitch and 
roll in a rough channel sea, to a greater extent than 
when the same steamers are on the open Atlantic 
during a gale. Certainly, many passengers in the 
Canada were soon in as miserable a state as if 
they had been crossing the channel in the smallest 
steamer that plies there. 

The first-class cabin passengers numbered up- 
wards of seventy. Conspicuous among them was a 
middle-aged lady, whose apparently hysterical con- 
dition upon coming on board drew forth general 
sympathy. She was on the way to a city in the 
State of Tennessee, where her son and brother 
lived, her husband having his abode in Australia. 
Neither grief at parting from acquaintances in Eng- 
land, nor terror at the prospect of a sea voyage had 
produced the hysterics under which she laboured ; 
inordinate fondness for bottled stout, or any other 
beverage of an alcoholic kind when her favourite 
one could not be procured, made her a fitting subject 
for a temperance lecture and the doctor's anxious 
care. Her husband could not be blamed for livino- 
at some distance from her, and the brother whom she 
was going to visit was not to be envied. A young 
gentleman from Glasgow, who was on his way to 
join a brother in the State of New Jersey, and who 
had a firm belief in making a rapid fortune in the 
United States, showed almost as great partiality for 
bottled stout as did this unfortunate woman ; but he 
kept within reasonable bounds on the whole, and 
was not uniformly offensive to his fcllow-passen- 



FROM THE THAMES TO THE HUDSON. 33 

gers. He was careful to explain with much empha- 
sis that water was the beverage which he preferred, 
before leaving home, and that he had resolved to 
drink nothing else after landing. When I last saw 
him, before leaving the steamer, he was earnestly 
engaged in trying whether certain transatlantic 
decoctions, in which gin, or brandy, whisky, or rum, 
was present in considerable proportions, were to 
his taste. If he kept to his determination to drink 
nothing but water, I have little doubt about his suc- 
cess in the United States. An instance of his astute- 
ness occurred on board. Having agreed with some 
others, on whom time hung heavily, to play at pitch 
and toss, he found that the pennies had a trick of 
rolling about the deck. Thereupon he sought the 
aid of the engineer, who roughened the edges of a 
penny with a file, and thus made it lie flat on the 
spot where it fell. This reminded me of the man 
who wrote from Dunkeld to the Mint for what he 
called tossing pennies — that is, coins with two heads 
on the one and two tails on the other, and led me to 
think that even the sharpest Yankee would meet with 
his match in this shrewd youth from Glasgow. 

Several of the passengers were young English- 
men, who were going to be farmers in the United 
States. Those persons who had practical knowledge 
of farming looked upon them as predestined to gain 
experience at the cost of their purses. There were 
three pairs who had each chosen a different part of 
the American continent as best adapted for a venture. 
Two of these men were on their way to California, two 
were bound for an Eden in the State of Iowa, and 
two had resolved upon trying to breed cattle in the 
State of Texas. The gentlemen who had heard 



34 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

that California was a splendid land for growing 
grain and making money, were unacquainted with 
agriculture. They looked forward to enjoying shoot- 
ing and fishing, and one of them had a hammock, in 
which he meant to take his ease when the weather 
was too hot to work, or when he was exhausted 
with the toil of sporting. They had no notion of 
the hardships of farming, even in such a highlj^- 
favoured land as California ; indeed, had they been 
aware of the difficulties in their path they would 
never have gone on the expedition. At home, a 
gentleman farmer is not generally successful. In 
the United States, a gentleman farmer is almost 
certain to lose his capital, and to find, when it is too 
late, that he has mistaken his vocation. Of course, 
if a gentleman who goes to farm land in the United 
States has some practical knowledge, as well as 
sufficient capital, and if he work much harder than 
the hardest-worked labourer does at home, he may 
expend his energies and turn his investment to pro- 
fitable account. The two who imagined the State 
of Iowa to be the paradise they were in quest of 
had some capital, a belief that farming could be done 
by proxy, and that a fortune could be gained by 
breeding and selling setters, two pups of an excellent 
breed being among their personal effects. They 
had made arrangements for obtaining copies of the 
English sporting papers, so as to be enabled to learn 
what was going on in the racing world, and to vary 
their other occupations with betting on some of the 
principal races. No long time would elapse before 
they would be more immediately concerned about 
how to get a dinner than about the future winner 
of the Derby. The pair whose destination was 



FEOM THE THAMES TO THE HUDSON. 35 

Texas had many chances in their favour, having 
learned in Monte Video what cattle-rearing meant, 
and havino; also learned how to bear the ills of an 
emigrant's career. They had no apprehension about 
finding the roughest life in Texas worse than that 
which they had experienced in Monte Video, and 
they would probably find that the change from the 
turbulent South American State to the more tranquil 
State of Texas was one for the better. 

A young Frenchman was another passenger elate 
with the expectation of meeting with something 
profitable in the New World. He had been engaged 
in the production of beetroot sugar in France, and 
he fancied that he would either gain useful informa- 
tion, or perhaps discover a new field for his industry, 
by visiting the Southern States. He spoke English 
very well, and, unlike many of his countrymen and 
a few of mine, he was an excellent sailor. I was 
surprised that he did not take a passage in one of the 
French Transatlantic steamers, which sail weekly 
from Havre, till he told me the reason why he pre- 
ferred an English vessel. He had served as a 
volunteer in the late war, and was still liable to be 
called upon to serve in what is called the Territorial 
Army. Before he could take a passage in the 
French steamer, he would have to get written per- 
mission from the authorities, and to pay a consider- 
able fee for the necessary documents. Moreover, on 
landing at New York he would have to go to the 
French Consul, inform him of his address, and keep 
him informed of his addresses during his journey 
throughout the country. Provided this were done 
to the Consul's satisfaction, a permit would be given 
him when he desired to return home, and for this he 

D 2 



36 COLUMCIA AND CANADA. 

would also have to pay a fee. The fees would 
amount to several pounds, and the formalities would 
occupy much time. All that had to be done to avoid 
the payment and the trouble was to take a ticket for 
London, and either embark there, or at any other 
port in a steamer sailing under the British flag. 
These regulations, though not so designed, have the 
practical effect of hindering many Frenchmen from 
proceeding to the United States in a French steamer. 
Among the other passengers was a retired publican, 
who had made enough money to live upon, and who 
was now carrying out a long-cherished wish by 
visiting the United States with his wife and son. 
He was a quiet, sensible, well-conducted man : his 
conversation was in good taste, and his manners 
were unobjectionable. His son, who had probably 
been reared in the public-house, was a living speci- 
men of Mi\ Punch's " 'Arry." 

The citizens of the United States had plenty of 
representatives on board. A cattle-breeder of 
Pennsylvania and his wife were types of what are 
known as Pennsylvanian Dutch. They had a varied 
assortment of prize animals in the hold, from pigs 
down to collie dogs. They were the first specimens 
of Pennsylvanian Dutch I had met, and the impres- 
sion they made on me was singularly favourable to 
their prize animals. In striking contrast was a 
family from the State of Massachusetts. The 
parents had spent three years in Germany and Bel- 
gium in order that their children might learn German 
and Frencli. They were all marked by that good 
breeding and refinement which is the distinctive 
characteristic of the educated classes in Massachu- 
setts, and which is never more conspicuous than 



FROM THE THAMES TO THE HUDSON. 37 

when contrasted with the manners and tastes of 
those who inhabit some other parts of the Union. 
A family from New York supplied this contrast in a 
lesser degree than the Pennsylvanian couple. They 
boasted of their possessions, and were confident that 
nowhere but in New York could all the elegancies 
of life be seen and enjoyed. After having spoken of 
the luxury in which they lived at home, they would 
recount how cheaply they had contrived to live in 
some French towns ; an uncharitable person might 
have entertained a suspicion whether the home 
luxury was not a figment of their imaginations. 
Another New Yorker, who had left London after 
many years' residence there as a stockbroker, was 
returning to try his fortune in his native city. He 
was a very pious man, at least in conversation, and 
he spent much time in giving good advice to the 
steerage passengers, and bewailing the wickedness 
of the human race. He had three children, one of 
whom, a boy of about eight, was the most mis- 
chievous child I ever saw ; he had not profited by 
parental training. A theological student from New 
York, who had finished his studies in Germany, was 
well primed with comments on men and things : but 
frequent attacks of sea-sickness hindered him from 
giving his fellow-passengers the full benefit of his 
acquirements. Two gentlemen were very com- 
municative about each other and very mysterious 
about their own affairs. They had met before in an 
ocean steamer, and on that occasion one of them 
went by another name. One volunteered the in- 
formation that the other was a private detective. 
It is not unusual for an Atlantic steamer to carry a 
passenger or two who journeys under compulsion 



38 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

ratter than for pleasure, and these passengers may 
be classed in that category. An ex-lieutenant in the 
navy was another puzzling passenger. He had seen 
a good deal of service in the Pacific, and had a fund 
of interesting pieces of information. Why he left 
the navy at an early age, when his prospect of 
further promotion was very favourable, he could not 
clearly explain. The severe attacks of rheumatism 
from which he had suffered did not account for his 
resignation so completely as he seemed to think. 
Rheumatism is an insidious and debilitating malady, 
but its symptoms are not, so far as I am aware, 
similar to those which may be caused by an extreme 
liking for alcohol. Several ladies were going to join 
their husbands, taking their children with them. 
One was bound for the far distant city of Winnipeg, 
the capital of the new Canadian Province of Mani- 
toba. Another was going to St. Louis. A Southern 
lady, who had the distinction of being a poet of note 
in her own land, was returning home with the plan 
of a new poem in her head. A Boston lady looked 
upon the poet with no friendly eye, while the poet 
was painfully candid in expressing her opinion of 
the Northerners who had beggared her in the war. 

A Dutch Protestant clergyman supplied another 
element of novelty, while four French Canadians, 
one of whom was a Roman Catholic priest, con- 
tributed still further to diversify the gathering. 
These Canadians had been absent fi^om home for ten 
months. They had visited England, France, Italy, 
and the Holy Land, and seen much that was new 
and strange ; they were all the more impressed with 
the spectacle because it was the first time they 
had left their native country. A bitter disappoint- 



FROM THE THAMES TO THE HUDSON. 39 

ment awaited them in France. They had looked 
forward to feeling themselves perfectly at home 
there, and they found that they were much more at 
home in England. Though French was their native 
language, yet they had little in common with French- 
men. They were struck with the backwardness of 
the French peasantry as cultivators of the soil, and 
pitied the way in which the latter lived. They told 
me that the cattle of a Quebec farmer were better 
housed than many peasant proprietors in France. 
With farming in England, and more particularly in 
Scotland, they were much impressed. Probably 
they returned home feeling far more satisfied to live 
under the British flag than they were when Europe 
was unknown to them by personal observation. 

When Martin Chuzzlewit and Mark Tapley 
crossed the Atlantic in the steerage of the ScreWy 
they were as thoroughly separated from the cabin 
passengers as they would have been at the bottom 
of the sea. Indeed, nowhere is the distinction be- 
tween classes more clearly marked and more 
rigorously maintained than on board an ocean-going 
vessel. Were this not the rule, the horrors depicted 
in Mr. Maguire's " Irish in America " would em- 
bitter the life of many a poor and forlorn female 
emigrant. It is with good reason, then, that com- 
munication between male cabin passengers, the crew, 
and female steerage passengers is the subject of 
strict regulation. Desiring to inspect the steerage 
accommodation on board the Canada, and receiving 
the requisite permission, I went over that part of 
the steamer along with one of the officers. As 
many as 600 passengers could be housed there. 
They receive treatment of which they could not well 



40 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

complain in return for the small sum paid as passage 
money. The food is abundant and well cooked ; in- 
deed, the cooking galley is a pattern of cleanliness, 
being as carefully adapted for its purpose as that in 
which the meals of the cabin passengers are pre- 
pared. Many a steerage passenger fares better on 
board such a steamer than he ever did on shore. A 
hospital is provided for the ailing of either sex ; in 
the female hospital special provision is made for the 
arrival of sea-born passengers. Unmarried women 
are under the care of a stewardess, and are carefully 
separated from the men. Married couples have a 
place set apart for them; a great improvement 
might easily be made in their case. Eight couples 
occupy as many berths; there is not even such a 
conventional separation between these couples as 
was effected, after a formal treaty, between Sterne 
and the lady traveller with whom he had to occupy 
the same room during his " Sentimental Journey " 
through Savoy. 

To effect a separation would cost any Steamship 
Company little, while it would contribute largely 
towards the comfort of the poorer married pas- 
sengers. Another change, easily effected, would 
benefit married and single alike. They have as 
much fresh water served out to them as they can 
desire, either for drinking or washing purposes ; but 
they cannot wash either themselves or their clothes, 
except in the tin pannikins in which they obtain the 
water. An enclosed place, furnished with a basin 
and a supply of water, might be provided in which 
they could perform their ablutions or cleanse their 
clothes in comparative comfort. Though the lot 
of a steerage passenger on board such a steamer 



FROM THE THAMES TO THE HUDSON. 41 

as the Canada is more enviable tlian that of a 
cabin passenger on board the sailing ships in which 
all passengers used to cross the ocean, yet the 
changes I have indicated would be decided im- 
provements. 

After three-fourths of the distance which sepa- 
rates the Old World from the New have been 
traversed, the passengers are requested to fill up a 
paper, for the information of the United States' 
Government, with particulars of their names, ages, 
places of birth, places of abode, their objects in 
visiting the Republic, and with declarations whether 
they have been there before. I have already noted 
and commented on this requirement.' It is one 
which still seems to me extraordinary. In Russia, 
a foreigner is not surprised to be called upon to 
inform the police whence he comes, whither he is 
directing his steps, for what purpose he is journey- 
ing to and fro, how long he has lived in the world, 
in what place he first saw the light, in what county 
he has a home, what is the colour of his hair and 
eyes, how his nose is shaped and his mouth is 
formed, and what is the exact distance between the 
crown of his head and the soles of his feet. The 
visitor to the United States may be pardoned for 
thinkmg that he ought to be permitted to land there 
without being treated as if he entered Russia. The 
absurdity of the demand is paralleled by the in- 
adequacy of the information supplied. Ladies 
generally delegate to the Purser the duty of filling 
up the papers which concern them ; the Purser is 
guided in his task by the flattering fiction that the 

^ " Westward by Rail : a Journey to San Francisco and Back." 
Third Edition, pp. 42, 43. 



42 COLUMBIA AND CANA.DA. 

maximum age of a lady passenger is twenty-five. 
Till recently the owners or masters of vessels were 
required to pay two dollars for every passenger 
whom they landed for the first time within the terri- 
tory of the State of New York, and to give bonds 
that they would not land any one who, being poor, 
as well as friendless and homeless, might seek an 
asylum there, and become a charge upon the public. 
The Supreme Court of the United States has decided 
that it is unconstitutional for any State to exact the 
payment for passengers who set their feet on American 
soil for the first time, and to enforce a rule against the 
conveyance of destitute persons. The decision is a 
creditable one. I am unable to reconcile it, however, 
with one delivered by the same august Tribunal in 
1845 when, after an argument from Webster in sup- 
port of the practice, it decided that the City of New 
York had a right to impose a tax upon immigrants.^ 
In the absence of an explanation it must be held that 
the Supreme Court has given contradictory decisions 
on the same point of constitutional law. 

The incidents of the voyage were of the usual 
kind. Imaginative passengers saw spouting whales 
where other people could discover nothing but the 
crests of waves. It blew a gale for a couple of days, 
and nervous passengers were apprehensive lest the 
vessel should go to the bottom at any moment. One 
passenger made the discovery that the screw, having 
got loose, was kept afiixed to the shaft by a rope, 
and that, as the Canada had no bulwarks and 
was lightly laden, the risk of destruction was very 
great. The only screw really loose was in this 

- Sir Charles Ly ell's " Travels iu North America." Second 
Series, vol. i. p. 263. 



"FROM THE THAMES TO THE HUDSON. 43 

passenger's head. Worse than strong contrary- 
winds, which merely delayed our progress, were the 
days of dense fog and of rain. But at last the 
pilot comes on board; the holder of the number 
considered unlucky being the winner of the sweep- 
stake based on the number of the pilot's boat ; old 
newspapers are received and read with eagerness by 
passengers who have been several days at sea, and 
who, for lack of the morning and evening newspapers, 
have little to talk about. Sandy Hook is passed, and 
the steamer drops her anchor off Staten Island. The 
green trees and pleasant-looking villas on shore are 
most attractive to spectators who are tired of the sight 
of the waste of waters, and who know nothing of 
the ague which is the scourge of this pretty island. 
The health officer next appears, and finds every- 
thing in good order. A steward who cut his hand 
when drawing a cork out of a bottle, and a sailor 
who injured his face by falling down the hold, are 
the only invalids on board, even the lady who suf- 
fered from bottled stout having been pronounced 
convalescent by the doctor. Then the wharf on the 
Hudson River is reached ; acquaintanceships are 
broken, never, perhaps, to be renewed ; hearty fare- 
wells are said to Captain Sumner and the other 
excellent officers of a splendid and comfortable ship; 
warm thanks are specially given to Mr. Bell, the 
Purser, for much courtesy and attention, and the 
passengers nerve themselves for an interview with 
the Custom-House officers of New York. 



44 



III. 

THE EMFIEE CITY. 

In tlie land of freedom, upwards of two thousand 
articles are liable to custom's duty. Before landing, 
the traveller has to make out a list of the contents 
of his luggage. After landing, he is taken before a 
magistrate in order to affirm upon oath that the 
declaration which he made in writing is trustworthy. 
Having sworn to the truth of the statement, an 
officer is then deputed to search the traveller's 
luggage for smuggled goods. Either the declaration 
or the search is unnecessary. The visitor to the 
Republic, as well as any citizen who returns to it, is 
treated as a probable perjurer. 

Twice have I passed unscathed through the ordeal 
of the New York Custom House ; on neither occasion 
could I have suffered harm, for nothing in my 
possession could be declared contraband. This time, 
the officer asked me to unlock a box containing nay 
wife's wearing apparel ; before searching it, he asked 
me whether I was an American Citizen ; I replied 
that I had no claim to so honourable a title, that 
I was a harmless traveller bent upon journeying 
through the United States and Canada, and that I 
looked forward with pleasure to seeing at Philadelphia 
the finest International Exhibition which had ever 



THE EMPIRE CITY. 45 

been formed ; thereupon he quietly remarked, " Guess 
that will do," closed the box, declining to search any 
other articles of luggage. The luggage belongino- 
to fellow-passengers, who had the distinction of being 
citizens of the United States, was subjected to a 
more troublesome examination. One of them had 
to part with all his spare cash in order to pay duty 
upon a present which he had brought to his mother. 
Another, who had declared on board the Canada 
thab he considered the tariff of his country iniquitous 
and smuggling a legitimate protest, had his luggage 
ransacked most conscientiously, whilst his wife and 
children stood by and groaned as payment of duty 
was demanded for one article after another. To be 
permitted to leave the Custom House with one's 
luggage intact is a triumph ; to drive to a hotel with- 
out being overcharged is an impossibility. This is 
no new experience. Writing in the year 1828, Mr. 
James Stuart says, " The hackney coaches are only 
constructed for four persons, very nice-looking with- 
out and within, generally driven by Irishmen, or men 
of colour, who are, we found, as apt to overcharge 
strangers as in other places." ^ A curious fiction 
prevails to the effect that the fares are calculated 
according to a fixed and authorized tariff. The New 
York " hackmen " treat this with ridicule. The only 
tariff* which I have been able to discover existed in 
their fertile imaginations, and baffled those persons 
who were accustomed to old-world rules of computa- 
tion. Once I tried to make a bargain before starting, 
and pointed out to an intelligent citizen that the sum 
he asked was four times greater than that to which 

' " Three Years in North America," vol. i. p. 24, 



4G COLUMniA AND CANADA. 

he was legally entitled ; Ins response was, " Guess 
you can leave it then." On the present occasion, I 
had to pay four dollars for being driven from the 
wharf of the National line to the Sturtevant House 
in Broadway. One-fourth of the sum would be con- 
sidered dear in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, or London, 
and not more than one-fourth would be asked by 
the well-regulated " hackmen " of the capital of 
Massachusetts. Many sympathizing citizens were 
good enough to '* guess " that I had been shame- 
fully overcharged, but they were unable to suggest 
what I ought to have done in order to pay less. 
Indeed, it appears to be the custom in New York 
to denounce the extortionate demands of "hackmen," 
and to submit to them. No one takes a "hack" 
unless compelled to do so. It is easy to get from 
one part of the city to another for a trifle in a street 
car or an omnibus. But the stranger who steps on 
shore encumbered with luggage is unable to dispense 
with the " hackman's " costly help, and, as strangers 
are the chief sufferers, New Yorkers can bear the 
infliction with tolerable equanimity. 

Since I saw New York in 18G9, a good many things 
have happened there, as well as in other places. 
Most important among them, in the opinion of the 
citizens, is the dislodgment of Mr. Tweed and his 
friends from public offices of trust and responsibility. 
This is regarded as a civic revolution brought 
about, at the instigation of the Neiv York Times, by 
the united efforts of honest men. It was confidently 
anticipated that the era of lavish expenditure and 
of knavish appropriation of tlie public funds, of a 
system of government maintained by plundering the 
rich and corrupting the poor, had definitely closed, and 



THE EMPIRE CITY. 47 

that an era of efficient, economical and laudable 
administration was about to begin. A lesson liad 
been taught to tbe wrong-doers. Mr. Tweed having 
been convicted of malversation, was ordered to re- 
fund the enormous sum of $6,000,000. He managed 
to escape from prison, but has been recaptured, and 
will have to make restitution in order to regain his 
liberty. A stranger does not see much improvement 
in the external condition of the city. The streets are 
as badly paved now as they were in the days when 
much of the money charged for doing public work 
remained in the pockets of the contractors. 

How profitable it must once have been, and may yet 
be to undertake to pave the streets of New York is 
shown by the disclosures made during a suit in the 
Supreme Court against the Nicholson Pavement 
Company. A particular piece of work was executed 
by the Company for the sum of $1,500,000; the 
nett profit amounted to $775,000. When the return 
is so large, it is not wonderful that the pavement 
should be rather uneven, and in constant need of 
repair. The Court House, upon which $12,000,000 
were nominally expended, while Mr. Tweed was in 
power, is still unfinished. 

The New York ratepayer has not profited by the 
substitution of a city government, which was to be 
a pattern of purity, for one which was infamous for 
roguery. In 1870, the debt was nearly $55,000,000 ; 
now, including the floating debt, it is upwards of 
$161,000,000. No other city in the world, except 
Paris, has so large a debt ; that of London is but a 
trifle in comparison. It is clear that men who were 
to be model administrators have been able to spend 
money as lavishly as their peculating predecessors ; 



48 rOLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

it is doubtful whether the difference between the two 
sets of administrators is obvious to those who pay 
rates ; certainly, it cannot be detected by the stranger 
who paces the badly paved streets. 

The Central Park, which is not under the direct 
control of the Municipality, is a striking contrast to 
the other objects of public interest which are main- 
tained out of the public purse. In the extent of 
wood and water, smooth turf and flower-beds, and 
in the roads kept in excellent repair, this Park has 
few equals. It is none the less attractive though the 
statue of Mr. Tweed, which some enthusiastic admirers 
desired to set up either there or in the city at the 
cost of the ratepayers, is still absent. Instead of 
this statue, the public are provided with a Menagerie 
gratis. The collection of wild beasts comprises a 
bison, a goat, a couple of parrots, several monkeys, a 
lion, tiger, and leopard, and many ordinary beasts and 
birds of prey. The lion, tiger, and leopard appear 
exceedingly unhappy. They are shown, not in dens 
where they may retire from public gaze, and take 
refuge from affectionate demonstrations conveyed by 
the points of umbrellas and sticks, but in cages 
barred all round, and placed so that they can be 
approached on all sides. 

In the last half-yearly report of Mr. Conkling, the 
Director of the Menagerie, there are some interesting 
statistics about the cost of maintaining the animals. 
An Elephant is the most expensive, its keep causing 
an outlay of $250 a year. The grizzly Bear and the 
Camel come next ; one of them can be kept for $150. 
A very fine Lion, with the special qualification of 
being a good roarer, can be kept for the small outlay 
of $125. A Jaguar costs $104, a Zebra $75 for 



THE EMPIRE CITY. 49 

yearly keep, while the trifling sum of $63 is sufficient 
to maintain a Hyena, Leopard, or Puma. The 
number of animals at the end of 1875 was 626 ; at 
the end of 1873, when I believe the Menagerie to 
have been established, the number was 455 ; thus the 
increase in the course of three years was 171. 

The newspaper in which I read these statistics 
contained a letter penned by Macaulay, and predict- 
ing future woe for the Republic when the population 
grew dense, and thousands, who were unable to get 
dinners, were face to face in angry mood with fellow- 
citizens who were unable to digest the sumptuous 
dinners prepared for them. Then the institutions of 
the Republic would be subjected to a strain which 
might prove fatal to them. Allowing for the pro- 
gressive increase of living things in this growing 
country, the wild animals in the Central Park 
Menagerie will number about half a million at the 
time when there are two hundred persons to the 
square mile, and it is difficult to procure food. 
This prospect is more appalling than any which has 
alarmed those persons who fear what the future will 
bring forth in a country governed by the democracy. 
Yet, though many have been led by the vaticinations 
of Macaulay to indulge in forebodings about what 
may occur, no one has paid heed to the more terrible 
state of things which would ensue if half a million 
of wild beasts were famishing. The danger in the 
one case is as real as in the other. Starving 
democrats may try and eat the wild beasts, or the 
ravening beasts may feast upon the poor democrats. 
I leave the result to those persons who possess a vivid 
imagination, and who are prepared to foretell what 
Avill happen a hundred or a thousand years hence : 

E 



50 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

as I do not know what will occur then, I shall avoid 
being mistaken by declining to prophecy. 

Complaints about the scarcity of work are common 
among artificers, yet there is no lack of new buildings, 
and of new churches in particular. In walking 
along Fifth Avenue I began to count the number of 
church spires, and found that they were too many to 
be kept in remembrance. Some of the new Presby- 
terian Churches are imposing structures ; they are 
surpassed, however, by the Roman Catholic Cathedral 
of St. Patrick, a marble edifice of vast proportions 
and an efi'ective architectural design. The material 
used is white marble. The cost must be enormous. 
The money required is readily forthcoming, much of 
it being contributed by Irish servant-girls, who 
freely part with a portion of their wages for the 
honour of their faith. Internally, some of these 
churches are as remarkable as they are in external 
appearance. The Rev. Dr. McGibbon, who came 
from Australia to the United States, returned home 
amazed at what he had seen in New York. The 
following is the judgment which he passed upon Dr. 
Hall's Church there, a judgment which, if rather 
severe, cannot be said to be charged with the narrow 
prejudices that might predominate in the mind of a 
clergyman whose home and sphere of clerical duty 
had lain in the Mother Country : "I submit that 
the magnificence of the temple in which Dr. Hall 
ministers, its gorgeous exterior, its massive steeple, 
its elaborate windows, its luxurious pews, its richly- 
carpeted and upholstered stairs and seats, its skylight, 
its polished wood, and its unique everything, costing 
$2,000,000, ought to be condemned as a sinful waste, 
and a practical notice to the poor that ' here the 



THE EMPIRE CITY. 51 

Gospel and the ordinances of Christ are intended for 
the rich.'" "While churches have risen for the pro- 
pagation of established creeds, a new religion has been 
offered for the consideration of New Yorkers. In 
Paris and London, the believers in Comte have lonsf 
held services such as he enjoined, and practised the 
religion which he devised. Only now has New 
York been favoured in the same way, for not till 
this year has the religion of Humanity been formally 
incorporated and classed among creeds recognized 
by law. In the articles of incorporation its objects 
are said to be " to develope and extend a knowledge 
of the synthetic and religious nature of science and 
humanity; second, to preserve them, instead of 
theology, as the basis and substance of religion ; and 
third, to practise and promote such religion as the 
foundation of religious and social duties of human 
welfare and progress." 

Till I heard of the death of Baron de Palm, and 
learned the nature of the funeral service performed 
over his remains before burning them at a more 
convenient season, I was unaware that a Theosophical 
Society existed in New York, and that its design 
was to revive some of the rites of the Pagan 
Egyptians. The High Priest is Colonel Olcott. The 
service was held on Sunday in the Grand Lodge 
Room of the Masonic Temple. At the head of the 
coffin was a bronze cross with a serpent twined 
round it; a censer containing incense was at the 
foot ; seven coloured candles were burning upon it ; 
the incense and the candles being supposed to 
symbolize the ancient Sun-worship. When the 
service began, seven men dressed in black robes, and 
with palms in their hands, ranged themselves behind 

E 2 



52 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

tlie coffin ; an Orphic liymn was then sung, one verse 
will suffice for a specimen of the whole : — 

" Oh Thou that givest light from high, 
Eternal Ether, Father's mind — 
Fire-sea that feed'st majestic suns. 
Let him immortal he." 

The Theosophic Litany, bearing a resemblance to 
compositions of the kind which have been framed by 
the founders of new creeds, was then repeated by 
Colonel Olcott, who afterwards delivered an address. 
The following passage will convey a fair understand- 
ing of the views of this strange body : — " This Society 
is neither religious, nor charitable, nor scientific. Its 
objects are to inquire, not to teach, and its mem- 
bers consist of men of various creeds and beliefs. 
Theology means the revealed knowledge of God, 
and Theosophy the direct knowledge of God. The 
one asks us to believe what some one else had seen 
and heard, and the other tells us to see and hear 
what we can for ourselves. Theosophy teaches that 
by cultivation of his powers a man may be inwardly 
illumined, and get thereby a knowledge of his own 
God-like qualities. It believes in no death-bed 
repentance. It considers the ruffian who stands 
under the gallows a ruffian still, though twenty 
prayers may have been uttered over him." 

Overlooking the Central Park is a plain but 
imposing structure just completed, and known as 
the Lenox Library. It is designed to contain the 
manuscripts, works of art, and books collected by its 
founder, and now made accessible to the public in 
this building. Mr. Lenox is a merchant who has 
devoted much of his fortune to collecting^ rare and 



i 



THE EMPIEE CITY. 53 

useful works in art and literature, and who has 
decided to render what has been the amusement of 
his life a valuable possession for his fellow-citizens. 
He certainly has done better than the late Mr. 
Stewart, whose only memorial is a large store and a 
white marble palace in Broadway. Many years were 
spent in accumulating his wealth and building the 
palace in which he died ; the memory of both will soon 
pass away and his own name be forgotten, because 
he failed to devote a share of his colossal fortune 
to some object of public interest. The bitterest 
disappointment which the New Yorkers have had for 
many a day was to learn that the Mr. Stewart of 
whom they were proud, and whom they were 
accustomed to cite as a product of their unrivalled 
institutions, should have omitted to assign any part 
of his fortune for the adornment or benefit of the 
city. 

The office of the New York Herald, a conspicuous 
marble edifice, was one of the sights when I was 
last here. The ofiice of the Neiv Yorh Trihune is 
now a counter-attraction. A splendid view can be 
had from the upper windows of the lofty tower 
which crowns the Trihune building. Seldom have I 
seen a more skilfully-planned and carefully-finished 
structure than this. The lower floors are let out as 
business offices ; the upper ones are devoted to the 
editorial and printing departments of the newspaper. 
The persons who grudge the time and breath con- 
sumed in ascending the long flight of stairs can go 
in a twinkling from bottom to top in a steam lift, 
wiiicli is constantly ascending and descending. 

The Trihune has undergone great changes during 
late years. The death of Mr. Horace Greeley, its 



54 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

founder and editor, was not followed by the deteriora- 
tion in the character of the paper which was generally 
but erroneously expected. Its loss has been a gain. 
The crochets and personalities in which Mr. Greeley 
delio^hted have ceased to characterize it. Public 
topics are now discussed in its columns on purely 
public grounds. Mr. Wliitelaw Reid, a representative 
journalist of the modern school, who is the present 
editor, has extended the influence of the newspaper 
by his splendid supervising and critical faculty, and 
largely increased its weight as an organ of cultivated 
opinion. The letters of its well-known London Cor- 
respondent, Mr. G. W. Smalley, have contributed in 
a marked degree to elevate the power of the Tribune. 
During the Franco-German War no other journal 
in the United States was better supplied with in- 
telligence; I have heard Mr. Smalley's services 
in this respect pronounced exceptional by a mag- 
nate of the London daily press, and Mr. Smalley 
himself hailed as " The Napoleon of journalism." 
The effectiveness of the letters of the London cor- 
respondent of the Tribune is enhanced by the fact 
that the minutest shortcomings of English public 
men, and the slightest failings in English social life, 
are unsparingly detailed and condemned by his 
pungent and lively pen. 

The journals of New York are many in number 
and varied in excellence. I have already men- 
tioned the Tribune, which is one of the most notable, 
I may name a few others which are equally 
conspicuous ; to enumerate and discuss them all 
will require the compass of a volume. The Herald^ 
which pants after a reputation for omnipresence, is 
foremost in circulation and popular favour; the 



THE EMPIRE CITY. 55 

organ of no party, its support is accounted a great 
gain ; when, with some hesitation, it finally declared 
for the maintenance of the Union, President Lincoln 
declared that his hands were strengthened, and that 
the good cause had acquired an ally which was 
worth an army. The World, which represents the 
Democratic party, is written with great vigour ; the 
late Charles Sumner, who detested its politics, told 
me that he admired the literary finish which fre- 
quently characterized its leading articles. The 
Times has recently been the uncompromising advo- 
cate of the extreme section of the Republican party ; 
it distinguished itself by unearthing the misdeeds of 
Mr. Tweed and his accomplices, and acquired an 
amount of credit which is gradually diminishing ; in 
the opinion of bitter patriots it did not deserve all 
the praise which it once received, seeing that it was 
then under the editorship of an Englishman. The Sun 
prints what people in general hesitate to utter; it is the 
terror of those persons who shun notoriety, and the 
delight of scandal-mongers. Quite as noteworthy as 
any of these daily journals and more influential over 
cultured opinion than all of them combined, is the 
weekly Nation, which combines the best qualities of 
the Saturday Revieio and the Spectator, which treats 
political, social, and economic topics with a freshness 
of tone which is most gratifying, and an acerbity 
which does not always give pleasure; though in- 
discreet admirers may unreasonably contend tliat it 
is both infallible and omniscient, yet no judicious 
person can deny that it is exceptionally well in- 
formed and that, on momentous questions of public 
policy, it is generall}^ in the right. 

In the press of the United States less attention is 



56 



COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 



paid to how a thing is said, than to the consideration 
whether the statement be worth printing. Pic- 
turesqueness of phrase is preferred to purity of style. 
Newspaper EngHsh in the Republic is often a com- 
pound of newly-coined words, which seems very fine 
to young writers, and which is not always intelligible 
to ordinary readers. One journal is distinguished 
among its contemporaries for striving to preserve 
the use of idiomatic and irreproachable English. 
This is the New York Evening Post, over which Mr. 
Bryant, one of the most notable among modern 
poets, exercised editorial authority for many years. 
He endeavoured to train his contributors to write 
well, and his example has been as salutary as his 
precept. I have obtained a copy of the list of 
words which he forbids his contributors to employ ; 
as I think it more instructive than a chapter of 
dissertation, I reprint it in full. Some of the faults 
of expression which Mr. Bryant censures are com- 
mitted by other journalists than those of the United 
States. 

The objectionable word or phrase is printed in 
italics : — 



MR. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT'S "INDEX EXPURGATORIUS." 



Ahove and over, 


for more than. 




Bagging, 


for capturing. 


Action, 


„ proceedint^ 




Balance, 


„ remainder. 


Afterwards, 


„ afterward. 




Banquet, 


„ dinner, or supper 


Aggregate, 


„ altogether, 


or 


Base, as a verb 






totaL 




Beat, 


for defeat. 


Artiste, 


„ artist. 




Bogus. 




Assembly man. 


„ member of As- 


Brother Jonathan, for United States 




sembly. 




Call attention. 


for direct attention. 


Aspirant. 






Casket, 


„ coffin. 


Auditorium, 


„ auditory. 




Claimed, 


„ asserted. 


Authoress. 






Collided. 




Average, 


„ ordinary. 




Collateral, 


„ collateral security 


Advocation, 


„ vocatiou. 




Commence 


„ begin. 



THE EMPIRE CITY. 



57 



Conclusion, for close, or end. 

Congressman, ,, member of Con- 
gress. 

Cortege, „ procession. 

Cotemporary, „ contemporary. 

Cowple, „ two. 

Decade, „ ten years. 

Depot, „ station. 

Darkey, „ negro. 

Day before ijesterday, for the day be- 
fore yesterday. 

Debut. 

Decease, as a verb. 

Democracy, applied to a political 
party. 

Develope, for expose. 

Devouring element, for fire. 

Donate. 

Emjployi. 

Endorse, for approve. 

En route, 

" Esq." 

Fall, for autumn. 

Freshet, ,, flood. 

Oents, „ gentlemen. 

Graduates, „ is graduated. 

Greenbacks, „ Treasury notes. 

Hardly, „ scarcely. 

"Hon." 

House, for House of Eepresentatives. 

Humbug. 

Inaugurate, for begin. 

Indebtedness, „ debt. 

In our midst. 

Interment, „ burial. 

Interred, „ buried. 

Is being done, and all passives of this 
form. 

Issue, for question or subject. 

Item, for particle, extract, or para- 
graph. 

Jeopardize. 

John Bull, for Great Britain. 

Jubilant, „ rejoicing. 

Juvenile, ,, boy. 

Lady, „ wife. 

Last, ,, latest. 

Lengthy, „ long. 

Leniency, „ lenity. 

Loafer. 

Loan or loaned, ,, lend or lent. 



Located. 

Majority, relating to places or cir- 
cumstances, for most. 

Materially, for largely or greatly. 

Mrs. President, Mrs. Governor, Mrs. 
General, and all similar titles. 

Mutual, for common. 

Nominee, „ candidate. 

Notice, „ observe, or mention. 

Numerous, as applied to any noun, 
save a noun of multitude. 

Official, for officer. 

On yesterday. 

Our first page, for first page of the 
Evening Post. 

Oration. 

Over his signature. 

Pants, for pantaloons. 

Parties, „ persons. 

Partially, „ partly. 

Past two iveeJcs, for last two weeks, 
and all similar expressions 
relating to a definite time. 

Poetess. 

Portion, for part. 

Posted, „ informed. 

Primaries, „ primary meetings. 

Prior to, „ before. 

Progress, „ advance, or 

growth. 

Proximity, „ nearness. 

Quite, prefixed to good, large, &c. 

Residence, for house. 

Haid, „ attack. 

Realized, „ obtained. 

Record, „ character, or re- 

putation. 

Reliable, „ trustworthy. 

Repudiate, „ reject, or disown. 

Resident, „ inhabitant. 

Retire, as an active verb. 

Rev., for the Eev. 

R(>^e, „ the part. 

Roughs. 

Rowdies. 

Seaboard, „ sea-coast. 

Secesh. 

Section, „ district, or region. 

Sensation, „ noteworthy event. 

Spending, „ passing. 

Standpoint, „ point of view. 



58 



COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 



Start, 


for begin, or estab- 




lish. 


State, 


„ say. 


Stoji-ping, 


„ staying, or so- 




jt>uniing. 


Siihsequentlij, 


„ afterward. 


Taboo. 




Take action, 


„ act, or do. 


Talent, 


„ talents, or ability. 


Talented. 




Tapis. 




Ta/riff, for rates 


of faro, or schedule 


of rates. 


Telegrams, 


,, despatches. 


The deceased. 




The United States, as a singular noun. 



Those wanting, for those who want. 

Those who, „ those persons who. 

Transpire, „ occur. 

Try an experiment, for make an ex- 
periment. 

Via, for by the way of 

Vicinity, „ neighbourhood. 

Wall Street slang generally : " bulls, 
bears, long, short, flat, cor- 
ner, tight, moribund, coma- 
tose, &c. 

We are mistaken in, for we mistake. 

Wharves, for wharfs. 

Which, with a noun, as "which man." 

]\"oidd seem, for seems. 



I turn from the grave topic of newspaper 
writing and editing to the more popular one of amuse- 
ments. If the reader had been present at one of Gil- 
more' s concerts, he or she would have enjoj^ed a great 
treat. When I was formerly in New York I went 
to one of Thomas's excellent concerts held close to 
the Central Park. The situation of the building in 
which they were held is out of the way; the hall 
in which Gilmore's concerts took place is very ac- 
cessible, being close to Madison Square, in the heart 
of the city. Here it was that M. Offenbach gave 
the entertainments of which he chronicles the 
success, and which are understood to have afforded 
great pleasure to every one except the gentleman 
who was responsible for the necessary payments. 
This concert-room was formerly the terminus of the 
Harlem Railway. It had the look of Cremorne 
Gardens or the Jardin Mabille under a glass roof. 
Rows of coloured lights illumined the interior ; 
fountains of water delighted the eye and cooled the 
air, while shrubs of all climes and kinds diversified 
the ground. 



Provision was made for visitors who 



THE EMPIRE CITY. 59 

desired to eat or drink. Half a dollar was charged 
for admission, the company being as select as the 
most fastidious could desire. A programme of the 
performance, handed to each person on entering, 
informed him or her not only what pieces were to be 
played, but also contained advertisements telling 
how to make money without trouble. I learned 
from them that the cost of a fortune in the Kentucky 
Lottery is only twelve dollars ; on payment of this 
sum I shall receive $100,000 provided I draw the 
first prize. Should I consider the promises of 
Spain more seductive and trustworthy than those of 
the State of Kentucky, I have but to pay twenty 
dollars in order to receive the same sum, provided I 
were to win the first prize in the lottery at Havanna. 
If the reader's faith in lotteries be cold and un- 
sympathetic, he will find other things to entertain 
him in this sheet. An account is given of Mr. Gil- 
more, who originated these concerts. With the 
modesty of genius, Mr. Gilmore frankly avows that 
nothing can equal the enthusiasm which he feels for 
his art, that he became a musician at the early age 
of eight, and that he "not only handles with skill, 
many of the instruments in his organization, but is 
also a master on the cornet." Be it noted that in 
quoting the last sentence, I confess my inability to 
understand it. Mr. Gilmore recently told Mr. R. M. 
Davey, " the brilliant and accomplished editor of the 
Spirit of the Times,'" that his " heart is ever and 
entirely in his work ; in his mission, as he likes to 
look upon it, and that he is determined to do his 
duty to his ideal and his country." In fulfilliuo- 
this task, neither his ideal nor his country has been 
properly grateful ; an intimation to this eff'ect is 



60 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

given in a becoming and resigned spirit : " Let 
the world say what it may about me, my pockets 
are hght, but ray heart is full of gratitude to 
Providence and to the people for the assistance 
I have received, and am constantly receiving in 
forwarding the object of my life — the propagation 
of good music in America." Certainly the concert 
which I attended was excellent in every respect, 
the selections being well chosen, and the execution 
beino; finished and effective. The sinofingf of the 
" Young Apollo Club " deservedly aroused the en- 
thusiasm of the audience ; the youths who composed 
it had been carefully trained, and they rendered the 
several pieces with taste and accuracy. On the whole, 
Mr. Gilmore's concerts are worthy of high praise. 

I had the pleasure of visiting the exhibition of 
paintings by native artists at the National Academy 
of Design and, at a later day, of seeing the Loan 
Collection of paintings shown in the same building. 
Both exhibitions were fraught with instruction, the 
lesson taught by the former being the less flattering 
of the two. Many of the paintings were worthy 
of praise; the}?^ displayed technical skill, much 
mental resource and elaborated cleverness. But 
the best had no national impress ; all the artists 
appeared to have studied, or to have imitated the 
processes and peculiarities prevailing at Diisseldorf 
or Munich, Rome or Paris. From the higliest point 
of view this is not a drawback, but a distinct merit ; 
it is as meritorious to be a cosmopolitan artist as a 
cosmopolitan author. Yet, it is considered a demerit 
in a United States' citizen to show that no pent-up 
Utica contracts his powers, and that he is a citizen 
of the world. Hence, to pronounce the productions 



THE EMPIEE CITY. 61 

of United States artists deficient in national pecu- 
liarities is to pass wliat tlieir countrymen regard as a 
fatal censure. JSTot by way of blame, but rather as a 
subject of congratulation, must I express the opinion 
that artists of the Republic have shown how they can 
adapt their powers to circumstances, and produce 
good pictures which are free from the stamp and 
mannerism of a single form of training, and the 
traditions of a single school. 

The Loan Collection was formed out of the 
choicest works in the possession of private persons 
in New York. The works of 221 artists were ex- 
hibited. Of these, 110 were Frenchmen, 41 were 
citizens of the United States, 31 were Germans, 17 
were Romans, 12 were Belgians, 5 were Englishmen, 
2 were Austrians, 2 were Scotsmen, and 1 was a Rus- 
sian. These figures prove that Modern French art 
is most to the taste of New York connoisseurs. 
The exhibition, which was a very good one, would 
doubtless serve to educate the public taste. 

The question of getting rapidly and cheaply from 
one part of this city to another has long been the 
subject of desire and suggestion. The omnibuses 
and street cars do not suffice for the conveyance of 
impatient passengers. It has been proposed to con- 
struct an Underground Railway, as in London, but 
the opposition to this scheme has proved insur- 
mountable. Other schemes have been advocated 
in the newspapers. What is styled an Elevated 
Railway seems to enjoy the greatest amount of 
support and approval. The rails are affixed to 
brackets extending laterally, at the height of about 
ten feet above the ground, from the sides of pillars 
placed, at short distances apart, along tlie outer 



02 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

edge of the foot pavement. The engines and 
carriages overhang the rails, so that running off 
them is impossible. Excepting the noise made by a 
passing train, the plan has no obvious drawback. 
Yet such railways have many opponents, and it may 
be some time before they are generally introduced. 

The more conspicuous changes in New York since 
my last visit are that Mr. Tweed has been deposed 
and imprisoned, and Mr. James Fisk, Jr., shot; that 
other notorious citizens have carried their ill-gotten 
wealth to Europe, where they can live in splendour 
and display what they consider patriotism by scorning 
the effete and antiquated institutions of the country 
in which they have found an asylum ; that the city 
debt has been trebled while the city remains a speci- 
men of mal-administration ; that two new religions 
have been provided for the citizens whose piety had 
waxed cold, or who craved for novelty on Sundays ; 
that a handsome and commodious post ofi&ce, many 
beautiful churches, a central railway station, several 
new hotels, a public library and a newspaper office, 
both of which may be styled monumental, have been 
built ; that wild beasts have been collected for ex- 
hibition in the Central Park ; that an aquarium has 
been erected in Broadway, and that a railway carries 
passengers above the streets, instead of, as in 
London, underneath them. 



G3 



IV. 

THE CITY OF BEOTHERLY LOVE. 

If a stranger wislied to increase the number of per- 
sons who considered him ahke presumptuous and 
incompetent, he would undertake to assign the 
foremost place to a particular city of the United 
States. Rigid impartiality, or unanswerable reasons 
would avail him nothing; asj-ainst the accusation of 
prejudice and folly, nor would they shield him from 
the perfect hatred of the citizens of every other city 
than the one named, while the citizens of the chosen 
city would exhibit no special gratitude, for they 
would contend that their dwelling-place had only 
received its just due. I was not surprised, then, to 
find that the pre-eminence accorded to Philadelphia 
in the year of national jubilee had not been meekly 
acquiesced in throughout the Union. I read in 
many newspapers that other places considered their 
historic titles to be equal to those of Philadelphia, 
and, if this were disputed, that their arrangements 
for accommodating and entertaining visitors, were 
much more complete and extensive than those of the 
city of Brotherly Love ; I also read articles in Phila- 
delphian newspapers deprecating the comments in 
their contemporaries, more particularly those of 
New York, and rebutting the unfair charge that the 



64 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

visitors to Philadelphia would be the prey of extor- 
tionate hotel-keepers, whilst figuring as pilgrims at 
the shrine of Independence. Possibly some cities in 
the land of Islam envy the fame of Mecca, and think 
that they could most appropriately guard so precious 
a relic as the Caaba; and it may be that some 
Indian cities are convinced of their claims to be pro- 
nounced as holy and attractive to devotees as 
Benares. It is certain, however, than any visitor to 
the United States wjio desires to keep on good 
terms with his friends and acquaintances in New 
York, Boston, and every other place of note or 
notoriety, ought to be measured in his eulogies of 
Philadelphia. If anxious to make friends, or to 
retain friendship with the citizens of Philadelphia, he 
should not hesitate about praising their city. An 
American loyalist, writing in 1776, says that "in 
one point, not contented with being not agreeable, 
the Philadelphians are almost disagreeable ; the 
almost universal topic of conversation among them 
is the superiority of Philadelphia over every other 
spot of the globe." ^ 

A visit to the United States is not indispensable 
for discovering manifestations of the like spirit of 
municipal pride and jealousy. If the praises of 
Edinburgh were loudly sounded in Glasgow, or the 
pretensions of Glasgow vigorously urged in Edin- 
burgh ; if Belfast were lauded in Dublin, or Dublin 
held up in Belfast as a model ; if Liverpool, Man- 
chester, Leeds, Sheffield, and Birmingham should 
be told that they were but rush-lights in comparison 
with London, or if a Londoner should be informed 
that other cities in the United Kingdom were more 
' Notes and Querie,<f, 5tli series, vol 6, p. 81. 



THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE. 65 

attractive and praiseworthy, in some respects, than 
the Cyclopean and f uhginous capital of England ; in 
each of these cases the opinions expressed would 
prove unpalatable, and no thanks would be returned 
to those who uttered them. In France alone a strik- 
ing exception can be found to a rule applying to the 
rest of the world. The claims of Paris to national 
pre-eminence are acknowledged by all the other 
cities in the land. Many inhabitants of these cities 
even seem to think that they owe an apology for 
having been born and for living in them ; they look 
upon Paris as an earthly paradise ; the French pea- 
santry, on the contrary, regard the capital as a sort 
of witch's cauldron wherein revolutions are brewed. 
Whether Philadelphia be or be not as greatly in 
advance of every rival as its citizens imagine, it 
certainly stands very high among the famous cities 
of the United States, having had a most interesting 
past, and been the theatre of some of the greatest 
events in the history of the country. Not so truly 
cosmopolitan as New York, it is much more compo- 
site than Boston. Long before William Penn formed 
an English settlement in Pennsylvania, the people 
of three nationalities — Finns, Swedes, and Hollanders 
— had made their homes there. For many years 
each nationality preserved its identity ; the language 
of each was taught in the schools ; books and news- 
papers were provided for each race in the mother 
tongue. Religious creeds exceeded in number the 
languages spoken, and were quite as diverse. In the 
"Account of the European Settlements in America," 
published in 1761, and attributed to Burke, it is 
said : — " Here you see Quakers, Churchmen, Cal- 
vinists, Methodists, Menists, Moravians, Indepen- 



06 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

dents, Anabaptists, and Dumplers, a sort of German 
sect that live in something like a religious society, 
wear long beards, and habit resembling that of fi-iars. 
In short, the diversity of people, religions, nations, 
and languages here is prodigious." Till the year 
1854, the city itself covered but a small area, being 
encompassed with districts, boroughs, and town- 
ships, numbering as many as twenty-eight municipal 
corporations. Now, the whole is under one govern- 
ment ; the population numbers 700,000. 

Philadelphia covers nearly 130 square miles, is 
twenty-two miles long from north to south, and 
from five to eight miles in breadth ; there are up- 
wards of 350 miles of paved streets within this area. 
Streets bearing the names of trees, such as cherry, 
chestnut, walnut, spruce, and others run east and 
west, being crossed at right angles by streets bear- 
ing numbers. Nothing is easier, then, than to find 
a given street ; but the regularity has the drawback 
of monotony. Brick has been largely used both in 
building the houses and forming the foot-pavement ; 
the white marble houses which adorn several of the 
streets are the more conspicuous and pleasing to the 
eye on account of the contrast they present to the 
red hue of the adjacent dwellings. Trees are much 
less common than in the avenues and streets of New 
York ; the absence of green foliage is a decided 
defect. The main thoroughfares are clean and well 
kept; but the presence of the scavenger and the 
drain-maker is sadly wanted in the smaller streets. 
There are several squares in which the green turf and 
the branching trees produce a delicious impression 
upon those persons who have been wearied by pacing 
along the burning pavement on a hot summer's day. 



THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE. 67 

In Washington Square, which the fastidious Mrs. 
TroUope called " the nearest approach to a London 
Square that is to be found in Philadelphia," ^ are to 
be seen specimens of all the trees which will grow in 
this climate. Seats, provided in the pathways, at 
intervals of three or four yards, are of the form of a 
flat cheese supported by a rod, being large enough 
to accommodate one person only. The advantage 
of seating people in this isolated and uncomfortable 
way is not obvious. In order to increase the dis- 
comfort of the occupants of the solitary seats, 
smoking is forbidden in this square under a penalty 
of five dollars. 

Though the streets of Philadelphia are filled with 
fine dwellings, spacious and handsome shops, and 
contain many modern public buildings of an impos- 
ing appearance, yet the relics of the past, in which 
the city is very rich, possess the chief attraction for 
an intelligent sight-seer. Even the laws by which 
the State is governed are notable for an antiquity 
almost exceptional throughout this continent. Laws 
made in 1704 are still in force. This proves the colo- 
nial legislators under the Monarchy to have been quite 
as capable as their successors under the Republic, 
and may be said to give fresh point to the well- 
known couplet in which Pope puts good administra- 
tion as the criterion of the best form of government. 
I am indebted to an admirable address, which was 
delivered in 1872 by Mr. J. W. Wallace, president of 
the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, for some 
striking notices of certain things in which the Phila- 
delphians take a just pride. 

* " Domestic Manners of the Americans," vol. ii. p. 81. 
F 2 



68 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

This Historical Society is an important institution. 
Its members number 600; it has a library of 12,000 
volumes, a collection of 80,000 pamphlets, a small 
gallery of portraits and historical pictures, and 
numerous manuscripts of great value. Chief among 
the latter are the letters of William Penn and his 
descendants, which were recently acquired for a 
comparatively small sum, less than a thousand 
pounds, from their English owners, and which the 
members of this Society are about to include in 
their series of publications. From the examination 
which I was permitted to make of the contents of 
the manuscript volumes, I satisfied myself that 
they abounded in curious details of the olden time. 
A manuscript volume of the unpublished letters of 
John Adams, the second President of the United 
States, is equally noteworthy. These letters, which 
were addressed to a Dutch correspondent. Van der 
Kemp, contain many revelations of Adams' true feel- 
ings, and throw a new light upon his character. 
Writing six years after the death of Washington, 
he tells his Dutch friend that Washington and 
Franklin had been greatly overrated, that they did 
not merit the title of Fathers of their country, and 
he makes it plain that he considered himself more 
distinguished than either. Other curiosities than 
old manuscripts have a place in this collection. 
There is, for instance, the dress sword worn by 
Franklin and the sword presented by Lewis the 
Sixteenth to the Scotsman, Paul Jones, whom his 
countrymen regard as a pirate and the citizens of 
the United States as a hero. But none of these 
things possesses the interest attaching to a piece of 
wampum, on which is rudely depicted a stalwart 



THE CITY OP BROTHERLY LOVE. 69 

man, with a broad-brimmed hat, standing beside a 
smaller man with uncovered head, being the original 
piece of wampum given to Penn by the Indians 
when he concluded his treaty with them, a treaty 
which they never violated and the Quakers never 
disregarded. I also saw Penn's instructions, in his 
own handwriting, as to the manner in which inter- 
course with the Indians was to be conducted. It 
was characteristic of the writer, and a proof of his 
observation, that he warned those persons who dealt 
with the Indians to demean themselves gravely, and 
to refrain from laughing, because this was a thing 
which they did not relish. 

Turning to the address by Mr. Wallace, mentioned 
above, I find a passage quoted from the work at- 
tributed to Burke on the " European Settlements in 
America," in which the commerce of Philadelphia 
in 1761 is thus described: — "There are in this 
city a great number of very wealthy merchants, 
which is noways surprising when one considers the 
great trade which it carries on with the English, 
French, Spanish, and Dutch colonies in America; 
with the Azores, the Canaries, and the Madeira 
Islands; with Great Britain and Ireland; with 
Spain, Portugal, and Holland, and the great profits 
which are made in many branches of this com- 
merce." Mr. Wallace congratulates his hearers on 
the circumstances that " from this region the light 
of letters first shone forth to all the Middle Colonies 
in the establishment of the printing-press ; that 
from Philadelphia first, on this wide continent, came 
the proposition to print in English the Holy Scrip- 
tures, and to accompany them by the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer; that here the rights of the Press. 



70 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

against an arbitrary Government, and the right of 
a jury to judge both law and fact in cases of Hbel, 
were first successfully asserted." Provision for 
education in the higher branches of learning was 
among the earliest cares of the founders of 
Pennsylvania. As far back as the year 1688, appli- 
cation was made for a charter, with the view to set 
up a " bank for money." Christ Church, one of the 
most beautiful ecclesiastical edifices in the city, 
dates from 1744 ; in concert with St. Peter's, it has 
maintained Christ Church Hospital, since 1722, as 
an asylum for destitute women. The library, origi- 
nated by Franklin in 1731, and chartered in 1742, 
is still one of the most useful institutions in the 
city; it contains 100,000 volumes, and though de- 
signed for the special use of subscribers, contains 
the excellent by-law amongst its original rules that 
" any civil gentleman " may be allowed to read and 
study there. This library is rich in works which 
are now very rare. I owe hearty thanks to Mr. Lloyd 
Smith, its learned librarian, whose features bear a 
resemblance, of which he may well be proud, to those 
of the best authenticated likeness of Shakespeare, 
for great courtesy and much useful information. Mr. 
Wallace, in enumerating the glories of his city, 
includes among these the University of Pennsylvania, 
a splendid edifice in point of architecture, which was 
founded as an academy in 1749, chartered as a 
college in 1755, and created a university in 1779. 
He is able to note with particular satisfaction that 
*' The Philadelphia Contributionship for Insurance 
of Houses from Loss by Fire," which dates from the 
year 1752, was the first fire insurance established on 
this Continent, that it lias never disputed a claim, 



THE CITY OF BEOTHEELY LOVE. 71 

and has remained solvent during vicissitudes wMch 
proved the ruin of many other insurance companies. 
Moreover, " The Corporation for the relief of poor 
and distressed Presbyterian Ministers, and of the 
poor and distressed widows and children of Presby- 
terian Ministers," was the first life assurance on the 
Continent, being chartered in 1759, and still en- 
joying a vigorous existence which, according to 
Mr. Wallace, it owes in common with the fire in- 
surance just named, to " the idea of the Colonial 
times, that such institutions should rest on the 
' mutual ' principle." 

The "American Philosophical Society," chartered 
by the Penns in 1769, made the name of Phila- 
delphia known throughout Europe at a time when 
the very names of other cities in America were 
known to a few only. In the same year, the Legis- 
lature of the Province made a grant of £200 to 
observe the transit of Yenus, thus proving that it 
was far in advance of similar bodies in that day, 
and possibly in our own. 

Not less notable than any of these institutions is 
the Pennsylvania Hospital, a building so vast and 
well-arranged that for nearly a century after its 
foundation no other one was required in the city. 
When Mr. Weld visited Philadelphia in 1795, he was 
struck with this hospital, which, he says, " for its 
airiness, for its convenient accommodation for the 
sick and infirm, and for the neatness exhibited 
throughout every part of it, cannot be surpassed by 
any institution of the kind in the world .... From 
the year 1756, in which it was built, to the year 1793 
inclusive, nearly 9000 patients were admitted into 
this hospital, upwards of 6000 of whom were re- 



72 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

lieved or cured."' The date and design are thus 
recorded on its corner-stone : — " In the year of 
Christ, 1755, George the Second happily reigning 
(for he sought the happiness of his people), Phila- 
delphia flourishing (for its inhabitants were public- 
spirited), this building, by the bounty of the Govern- 
ment and of many private persons, was piously 
founded for the relief of the sick and miserable. 
May the God of Mercies bless the undertaking." 
Indeed, Mr. Wallace can find little that is " humane, 
good, great, or illustrious in Provincial times " with 
which the name of his city or State is not con- 
nected. In Pennsylvania was erected the first 
paper-mill in the province; in Philadelphia the 
first monthly magazine was printed ; there West 
displayed his first picture in 1745; there Bartram 
established the Botanical Gardens which procured 
for him the title of American Botanist to George 
the Third ; there lessons in anatomy were first given 
in America; there were founded some of the best 
medical schools in the country ; there, it must be 
added, have flourished some of the greatest quack 
doctors, and there did George Keith, in 1G93, issue 
his remonstrance against slaveholding, while other 
enemies of slavery continued the protest after him, 
and laboured for the education as well as the 
emancipation of the blacks. In short, the story of 
Philadelphia and the Province of Pennsylvania 
during the old Colonial times is a highly gratify- 
ing one ; it cannot be read in the most cursory 
form now without leaving an impression that the 
days during which Pennsylvania was subject to 

' Isaac Wold's "Travels in North America," vol. i. p}). 11, 12. 



THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE. 73 

monarcliical rule were not days to be altogether 
regretted. 

The Protective system to which Groat Britain 
was in bondage a century ago, retarding her 
development for many centuries, and the main cause 
in bringiug about the separation of the Colonies from 
the Mother country, a system of which Benjamin 
Franklin, almost contemporaneously with Adam 
Smith, showed the folly and mischief with incom- 
parable effect, now finds its warmest supporters and 
loudest eulogists in the State of Pennsylvania. A 
line of steamers, which is the only line crossing the 
Atlantic under the flag of the United States, runs 
between Philadelphia and Liverpool. Mr. Lindsay, 
in his " History of Merchant Shipping," states that 
these steamers cost £20,000 each in excess of what 
they would have cost had they been built on the 
Clyde instead of on the Delaware. Such is the price 
which, in one case only, the Philadelphians cheer- 
fully pay for a policy of protection to native indus- 
try. Pennsylvania cherishes the Protection system 
as her chief blessing ; Navigation Laws, modelled 
upon those which England passed during a paroxysm 
of folly — laws prohibiting a citizen of the United 
States from purchasing a vessel in the cheapest 
market and sailing it under his country's flag, are 
considered by Pennsylvania as the inestimable gifts 
of a beneficent Congress. The trammels with which 
Protection environed trade and the obstacles to the 
spread of commerce which were artificially created 
by the Navigation Acts in the United Kingdom have 
been happily swept away by an enlightened Parlia- 
ment; British manufacturers and merchants are 
now free to compete with the world, while the 



74 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

people at large reap the benefit of an emancipation 
from a pernicious system of international jealousy 
and selfishness. Unfortunately, the awakening came 
too late to produce all the good which might have 
accrued from the reversal of a policy which was 
founded upon delusions originating in the Middle 
Ages, and upon corresponding delusions which the 
Parliaments of Cromwell and Charles the Second 
regarded as the quintessence of wisdom. Not only 
was this policy fraught with domestic loss and mis- 
chief, but the operation of the Protective system and 
the enforcement of the Navigation Acts necessarily 
led the American colonists to consider themselves 
grossly aggrieved and intolerably oppressed ; and it 
is to the fatal predominance of the fallacious idea 
that trade can ever be beneficially protected or com- 
merce usefully fostered by mere legislative enact- 
ments, rather than to the personal blunders and 
arbitrary notions of George the Third, that the 
disruption of the British Empire is attributable, 
when the Thirteen Colonies w^ere transformed into 
the independent United States. 

Independence Hall, whence issued the famous 
Declaration, is prized by the Philadelphians above 
all their other glories. In Carpenter's Hall, not 
very far distant, the Congress of the United Colonies 
first met and deliberated ; but it was here that the 
Congress sat which created, as well as represented 
the United States of America. The high-backed 
Elizabethan chair in which John Hancock presided 
is still in its place ; in front is the identical table 
upon which the Declaration of Independence was 
laid, and where the President signed it " by order 
and in behalf of Congress." Many of the chairs 



THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE. 75 

occupied by the members are ranged in a semi-circle 
on each side. On the walls hang the portraits of 
the signers of the Declaration ; the original docu- 
ment was brought from Washington, in 1876, and 
placed in a fire-proof safe at one side of the chamber. 
I saw the document. The ink has faded so much 
that it is not easy to read the writing or decipher 
the signatures. When the safe was shut, it was 
easy enough to read the name of its maker, which, 
by way of advertisement, had been conspicuously 
painted on the door. Thus, in the Centenary of the 
Independence of the United States, the name of a 
manufacturer of iron safes was a more prominent 
object in Independence Hall than the original signa- 
tures of Hancock, Franklin, Jefi'erson, and their 
colleagues ! 

I have before me a facsimile of the number of 
Dunlap's Fennsylvania Packet or the General Adver- 
tiser, for Monday, 8th July, 1776, the newspaper in 
which the Declaration of Independence was first 
published. Many persons who most heartily admit 
that the American colonists had many grievances 
and applaud the vigour with which they asserted 
their rights and combated for them, when the 
atrocious blunder had been committed of meeting 
their temperate remonstrances with the sword in- 
stead of with timely and reasonable concessions, 
cannot peruse their memorable Declaration without 
taking exception to much which is contained therein. 
It is not so obvious to the impartial and critical 
reader as it is to the ordinary citizen of the United 
States, who has been trained from childhood to 
reofard the document as an immortal record of irre- 
fragable truths, that " the history of the present 



76 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries 
and usurpations, all having in direct object the 
establishment of an absolute tyranny over these 
States." Though George the Third entertained 
many foolish notions, yet, to make himself an abso- 
lute tyrant anywhere was not one of them. Nor 
does the charge of arbitrary treatment of Canada, 
cited in proof of this allegation, appear other than a 
strange one to be repeated on jea,r\y anniversaries 
by citizens of the United States, when the actual 
course of Canadian history is remembered, and the 
prosperity and happiness of Canada are apparent. 
The subject is a tempting one for a critic. The 
errors of omission in the Declaration are quite as 
obvious and flagrant as those of commission. Its 
literary style is as open to comment as its contents 
are open to discussion. The rhetoric with which it 
is saturated not only pleased Jefferson's contemjDO- 
raries, but is still admired by some citizens of the 
United States. Minute criticism is the last thing 
which such a document is likely to undergo at the 
hands of those persons who have been taught to 
venerate it as the paragon of human utterance ; the 
stranger, who should venture to treat it as unin- 
spired and fallible, would be denounced by indignant 
citizens, with singular unanimity, as a malignant foe 
of their Republic, and even more culpable than a 
blasphemer of Holy Writ. 

Other interesting things in this old newspaper 
enable the reader to understand, better than any 
formal history, the state of feeling at the period 
when the United Colonics declared themselves inde- 
pendent. A notification, printed in the largest type, 
shows when the Declaration was oJBficially made 



THE CITY OP BROTHEKLT LOVE. 11 

public :—" This day (8tli July, 1776), at 12 o'clock, 
the Declaration of Independence will be proclaimed at 
the State House." In a volume published after the 
celebration of the Centenary of the Republic, there 
is the following account by an eye-witness of the pro- 
ceedings on the day the Republic was established : — 
" Warm sunshine, morning. At eleven, went and met 
the Committee of Inspection at the Philosophical Hall; 
went from there in a body to the Lodge; joined the 
Committee of Safety (as called) ; went in a body to 
the State House Yard, where, in the presence of a 
great concourse of people, the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was read by John Nixon. The company 
declared their approbation by three repeated huzzas. 
The King's arms were taken down in the Court 
Room, State House, at the same time. . . . Fine 
starlight, pleasant evening. There were bonfires, 
ringing bells, with other great demonstrations of joy 
upon the unanimity and agreement of the Declara- 
tion." ^ On the day that Congress assented to the 
document, two other resolutions were passed; the 
one empowering the Board of War to employ per- 
sons to manufacture gun-flints, to make application 
throughout the States for the names and addresses of 
those persons who were skilled in manufacturing them, 
and to find the places where the best flint stones were 
to be obtained ; the other forming the delegates of 
New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, into a 
committee to confer with other committees as to the 
"best means of defending the Colonies of New 
Jersey and Pennsylvania," and empowering them 

* " Extracts from the Diary of Christopher Marshall, kept in 
Philadelphia and Lancaster during the American Kevolution," 
p. 83. 



78 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

" to send expresses where necessary." Among the 
contents is the copy of an Act, passed three months 
previously by the Assembly of South Carolina, en- 
titled, " To prevent sedition and punish insurgents 
and disturbers of the public peace," the opening 
sentence of which will suffice to show alike the lan- 
guage used, and the feelings common in those days : 
*' Whereas a horrid and unnatural war is now 
carried on by the Ministry and Parliament of Great 
Britain, against the United Colonies of North 
America in general, and this colony in particular, 
with a cruel and oppressive design of robbing the 
colonies and good people of this colony of their 
dearest and most valuable rights as freemen, and 
reducing them to a state of the most abject slavery 
and oppression." This strong language is matched 
by the tenour of a piece of news from New York, 
dated the 4th of July : — " Last Saturday arrived at 
the Hook (like the swarm of locusts escaped from 
the bottomless pit) a fleet said to be 130 sail of ships 
and vessels from Halifax, having on board General 
Howe, &c., sent out by the tyrants of Great Britain, 
after destroying the English constitution there, on 
the pious design of enslaving the British Colonies 
and plundering their property at pleasure, or mur- 
dering them at once, and taking possession of all, as 
Ahab did of Naboth's vineyard." 

I shall extract but two more sentences from the 
news with which the readers of the Fhiladelphia 
Packet were gratified in 1776. The incident here- 
after related is not given in equal detail in the 
histories of the American Revolution. The tidings 
are sent from WilHamsburg, in Virginia, under the 
date of July 4th. " This morning Captain James 



THE CITY OB' BROTHERLY LOVE. 79 

Barron came to town from Jamestown, with the 
agreeable news that he and his brother, in two small 
armed vessels, were safe arrived there, with the 
Oxford transport from Glasgow, having on board 
217 Scotch Highlanders, with a number of women 
and children, which they took last Wednesday even- 
ing, on her way to Gwyn's Island to join Lord 
Dunmore. The people on board inform that they 
are part of a body of 3000 troops which sailed from 
Glasgow for Boston, but upon hearing that place 
was in our possession, they steered their course for 
Halifax ; that they had been taken by the Andreiv 
Doria, one of the Continental fleet, who, after dis- 
arming them and taking out all the principal officers, 
with such of the transport's crew as were acquainted 
with navigation, put eight of their own hands on 
board to bring her into port, but that the carpenter 
of the transport formed a party and rescued the 
vessel from them, and was conducting her into 
Hampton Road, when the two Captains Barron s 
very fortunately came across them, and moored them 
safe at Jamestown, where they are now disembark- 
ing, and are expected in town this day." It is to 
be hoped that the story of this capture, revolt, and 
recapture, had a happier ending for the prisoners 
than that of the capture of the transport which 
sailed into Massachusetts Bay after the town of 
Boston had been evacuated by the British troops. 
Colonel Campbell, who was in command of the 
Highland soldiers in the latter vessel, was thrown 
into the most loathsome dungeon of the common 
prison, and subjected to a maltreatment which ex- 
cited the indignation of Washington, and caused 
him to remonstrate so emphatically that the unfortu- 



so COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

nate prisoner of war was afterwards treated with 
greater humanity. 

Before laying the Philadelphia Packet aside, I may 
note that it contains an advertisement of Dr. Price's 
" Observations on the nature of Civil Liberty, the 
principles of Government, and the Justice and 
Policy of the War with America," to which the 
following remarks are appended : — " This learned, 
judicious, and liberal author had the thanks of the 
Common Council and the freedom of the City of 
London presented to. him in a gold box for his much- 
admired and most excellent pamphlet on Civil 
Liberty, and for which he also deserves the united 
thanks of America." Two advertisements, which 
would now be headed in an English newspaper " To 
be sold by auction," and in a newspaper of the 
United States "To be sold at auction," are headed 
respectively, "To be sold by pubhc vendue," and 
" To be sold by public sale." Two others bear the 
respective headings " Six dollars reward " and 
" Five pounds reward," showing that a twofold mode 
of reckoning money was then in vogue. Readers of 
local newspapers in the United States are familiar 
with appeals to subscribers to pay their debts. That 
Mr. John Dunlap, proprietor and printer of tlie 
Philadelphia Packet, was not free from the cares 
which vex the hearts of some of his successors 
is evinced by the following intimation which is 
printed on the same page as the immortal Declara- 
tion and in still larger type : — " The uncommon 
expense attending the publication of this newspaper 
at this day, obliges the printer to inform those 
gentlemen indebted for this paper longer than 
twelve months, that, without pay, it cannot be con- 



THE CITY OF BEOTHERLY LOVE. 81 

tinued to them more than four weeks from this 
date." 

I have more to tell about Philadelphia as it ap- 
peared in the year when the anniversary of the 
Centenary of the Eepublic absorbed the thoughts of 
its citizens. But additional notes and comments 
may be postponed till I have characterized the Inter- 
national Exhibition, wherein all the countries of the 
globe were represented in friendly rivalry upon the 
soil of tlie United States of America. 



82 



V. 

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 

Evert citizen of the United States with whom I 
talked about the International Exhibition at Phila- 
delphia said to me : — " Well, sir, how does it com- 
pare with those of Europe ?" I have always replied 
with perfect sincerity, that I considered it equal to the 
best of them. Having seen every Great Exhibition, 
save one, since the first was held in Hyde Park, I have 
had sufficient opportunities for forming an opinion 
based upon experience and comparison. Had my 
sphere of observation been more limited, it is possi- 
ble that this International Exhibition would have 
produced the same impression upon me as it did 
upon those to whom such a spectacle was entirely 
novel. When dissatisfied readers of Fundi or the 
Saturday Review say in their haste that these 
journals have greatly fallen off, that the former is 
not so lively and pointed as of old, that the latter is 
far heavier than it used to be, they omit to take into 
account the effect upon themselves of a long succes- 
sion of bright jokes, clever sketches, and slashing 
articles, and never dream that the dryness and pon- 
derosity of which they complain may be mere fig- 
ments of their own minds instead of being attributes 
of the journals. Having been surfeited with good 



THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 83 

tilings, tliey have grown querulous and over-exacting. 
If the dullest number over which they profess to 
yawn were the opening one, in place of being the 
continuation of an admirable series, they would 
welcome it with the delight of persons avid for the 
enjoyment of something fresh and sparkling. In 
like manner, if sight-seers had not been cloyed with 
Exhibitions, if this were 1851 instead of 1876, if the 
Exhibition at Philadelphia were the first in date, 
all visitors to it might have been puzzled to find 
words wherewith to express their wonder and grati- 
fication. 

This Exhibition in Fairmount Park, though on a 
larger scale and more ambitious in design than that 
which was held in Hyde Park a quarter of a century 
ago, did not eclipse the memory of its predecessor. 
The very edifice in which the first World's Fair was 
held recalled a vision of Fairyland, presenting to 
the eye in visible form the wondrous structures 
which, till then, had no existence out of the pages of 
the " Arabian Nights," and the " Faerie Queene." It 
is even doubtful whether any palace imagined and 
described by Sheherazade or Spenser was more 
marvellous in plan and appearance than the Crystal 
Palace, designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, constructed 
by Sir Charles Fox, decorated by Owen Jones, and 
filled with the treasures of all nations. In no other 
building erected for a like purpose has the view of 
the central transept been equalled, with the fine old 
trees, where birds hopped and twittered, and with 
the crystal fountain playing between them. In no 
other exhibition has such a gem been shown as the 
great Koh-i-noor diamond, which sparkled within an 
iron cage in the nave. Nor has any piece of sculp- 

G 2 



84 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

ture attracted greater crowds of admirers in a sub- 
sequent Exhibition than the statue of the Greek 
Slave by Hiram Powers. The work of art excited 
the greater interest because it was from the chisel of 
a citizen of the United States. To other citizens of 
that country the British public owed thanks for 
some amusement and much instruction. Agricul- 
turists were told that a machine had been brought 
across the Atlantic which enabled the farmer to 
harvest his crops of grain or grass at far greater 
speed and less cost than by the reaping-hook or the 
scythe. Mr. M'Cormick's reaping-machine was 
pronounced one of the most original products of an 
inventive nation till it was shown, to the gratification 
of many persons and the astonishment of the general 
public, that the model upon which the wonderful 
machine had been framed was still in existence; 
that, during twenty years, it had been annually used 
in reaping the harvest on the glebe of the Rev. Mr. 
Bell in the Carse of Gowrie, and that the merit of 
originality actually belonged to an obscure Scottish 
minister. Moreover, when the first reaper was 
pitted against the later and improved one it success- 
fully held its own. Another citizen of the Republic 
made for himself a lasting name as a picker of locks. 
For years, a lock had hung in the window of Messrs. 
Bramah with a notice offering a reward of £100 to 
the person who should open the lock with any other 
than the right key. Mr. Hobbs came forward, 
opened the lock and claimed the reward, greatly to 
the astonishment and mortification of its makers, 
while he exhibited a lock of his own which he boldly 
challenged any one to open in like manner. Among 
the surprises of that memorable year was the advent 



THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 85 

of the yacht America. Its performances outvied 
those of any EngHsh yacht, just as the locks of Mr. 
Hobbs surpassed in security those of Messrs. Bramah 
and Messrs. Chubb. Tlie owner capped his achieve- 
ments by carrying the Queen's Cup across the 
Atlantic, where it has remained ever since, notwith- 
standing the attempt of Mr. Ashbury to regain pos- 
session of it on behalf of English yachtsmen, and the 
recent attempt of the owner of the Countess of 
Dufferin, a Canadian yachtsman, which was far more 
brilliant than that of the Englishman, and differed 
from it in this, that though the Canadian failed to 
win the race he did not lose his temper. 

The Exhibition of 1851 was a great national 
undertaking and a great financial success. It was 
opened with all the pomp of royal state ; when its 
doors were closed and all expenses paid, a very large 
surplus remained in hand. The Exhibition at Phila- 
delphia has achieved a success only second to that 
of the first in London. But the lower the anticipa- 
tions of future blessings the greater the chance of a 
prophetic triumph. The lofty expectations formed 
and expressed in 1851 have not been completely 
justified by events ; it would be historically inaccu- 
rate to date the Millennium from the year in which 
the peaceful representatives of the nations of the 
world first met in amicable intercourse and competi- 
tion under the same roof. 

The Crimean Campaign began three years after that 
meeting of the nations in Hyde Park, where they were 
supposed to have entered into an eternal friendship ; 
the Italian Campaign began four years after a like 
gathering in the Champs Elysees; the Franco-German 
War began three years after another and grander 



86 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

gathering in the Champs de Mars ; bloody and de- 
plorable hostilities between the Indians of Dakota 
and the troops of the United States were in progress 
while the exhibition in Fairmount Park was open ; 
and a deadly struggle between the Russian and the 
Turk began six months after it was closed. Super- 
stitious observers of bygone days would have regarded 
these coincidences as natural sequences, and they 
would have argued that a great Exhibition is neces- 
sarily succeeded by a great war. The modern 
blunder has been to infer that nations have made 
as great a progress in civilization as they profess 
to have done, to fancy that rivals in art and 
industry are no longer animated by the foulest pas- 
sions which degrade human nature, and to conclude 
that a World's Fair mysteriously exorcises the 
demon which prompts to rivalry on the field of bat- 
tle. Civilization is still in a much less advanced 
stage than most people like to admit, while the 
confraternity of nations is as yet little more than a 
fascinating phrase. 

The buildings composing the International Exhi- 
bition in Fairmount Park covered seventy-five acres 
of ground, some of them were half a mile apart. 
There were 170 separate structures, yet the grounds 
did not seem crowded. The main building, though 
a very large one, being 1,880 feet long by 464 feet 
wide, had no look of vastness. This was owing to the 
roof being comparatively low. The Machinery Hall, 
500 feet west of the main building, was not remark- 
able in appearance ; the Memorial Hall, a permanent 
stone edifice, was the most ambitious structure from 
an architectural point of view. I learned that it is 
modern renaissance style ; if this be a good speci- 



THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. S7 

men, the less frequently that style is reproduced the 
better. A colossal dome surmounts the edifice ; on 
the top of the ball, at the summit of the dome, there 
stands a figure which is understood to represent 
Columbia. At each of the four corners of the four 
pavilions at the base of the building, are other repre- 
sentatives of Columbia in the for.m of huge cast-iron 
eagles with outstretched wings, the wings being 
kept securely in their places by means of conspicuous 
metal rods. I should be guilty of gross flattery to 
the ai'chitect if I said that the general effect is 
pleasing ; still, the impression made by the outside is 
most gratifying compared with that produced on me 
when I first entered the vestibule and looked at the 
glass chandelier, ludicrously out of keeping with the 
general design, and caught a glimpse of a plaster 
libel upon Washington contributed by an enthu- 
siastic Italian artist. The Horticultural Hall, which 
is also to remain permanently in its place, resembles 
other buildings of its class. Not so the Agricultural 
Hall, however, nearly half a mile distant from the 
main building. This was unique of its kind. Never 
before did it enter into man's head to plan a building 
for the display of agricultural machinery which 
should resemble a Gothic cathedral. 

Among the first things seen after entering the 
main building were several human skulls, exhibited 
by a defaulting South American State. A more ex- 
traordinary article of produce was never shown 
in an international exhibition. Possibly, they were 
meant to warn the despoiled bondholder that, 
despite grumbling because his coupons are unpaid 
and his principal is gone, to this complexion he, too, 
must come at last. Egypt next attracted attention 



OO COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

witli the following inscription over an archway : — 
*' The oldest people of the world send their morning 
greeting to the youngest nation." A stuffed croco- 
dile was one of the principal Egyptian exhibits. 
The morning greeting was a happy sentiment ; the 
stuffed crocodile might have been intended as a sort 
of hieroglyphic for the benefit of the more cultured 
Egyptian bondholders. Yet neither the sentiment 
nor the dead reptile seemed sufficient to attract 
the crowd of ladies which assembled day after day 
in the Egyptian Court. One lady after another, who 
seemed bent upon whispering a few words to the 
attendant, turned away, after receiving a curt reply, 
in a state of evident dissatisfaction. A friendly jour- 
nalist elucidated the mystery. It seems that an 
enterprising reporter, having little to say about the 
Egyptian exhibit, thought the readers of his paper 
would be gratified to be informed that the most 
curious article there was a lady's night-dress, of 
surpassing beauty, which had been bought by Miss 
Ordway of Reading, a rich young lady who was 
about to become a bride. These ladies desired to 
see this marvel of Egyptian handiwork ; but the 
attendant could not gratify the curiosity which they 
displayed. He did not understand what they meant, 
and they did not believe his profession of ignorance. 
The night-dress of Miss Ordway was a myth. Close 
at hand was the Spanish Court, making a great ex- 
ternal show, and containing little that repaid exami- 
nation. Some Spanish soldiers and officers, in full- 
dress uniform, attracted as much notice as any of 
the things exhibited. If the number of orders upon 
the breasts of these young officers were a true cri- 
terion of their services, they must have performed 



THE INTERNATIONAL EXIIIIUTION. 89 

as many deeds of valour as Don Quixote. Russia 
exhibited those malachite ornaments which always 
excite admiration, notwithstanding that visitors to 
great exhibitions have become familiar with them ; 
but she did not show here anything equal to the 
large malachite doors, the most costly ever made, 
which were among the wonders of the Exhibition 
of 1851. The work for which Vienna is famous 
all over the world was well represented in the Aus- 
trian Court, while the porcelain from Berlin in the 
German Court was as noteworthy and admirable. 
The lace from Belgium, the carved wood-work and 
mosaics from Italy, watches and musical boxes from 
Switzerland, filigree jewellery from Norway, iron- 
work from Sweden, porcelain from China, and lac- 
quer ware from Japan ; bronzes, silks, tapestries, 
enamels, porcelain, perfumery, and a multitude of 
fancy articles from France ; pottery, glass, silver- 
ware, carpets, clocks, watches, and furniture from 
Great Britain and Ireland ; these are things of 
which the remembrance remains most vividly after 
a careful inspection of the foreign departments in 
the main building. 

In the part of the building containing the display 
of the United States, the effect of novelty was far 
greater : never before had I seen that country ade- 
quately represented ; hitherto it was impossible to 
form a just opinion of the diversity and completeness 
of its manufacturing industry. 

Fruitless attempts were made to induce the citi- 
zens of the United States to contribute on a large 
scale to the display in the Great Exhibition of 1851. 
Writing to Sir Charles Lyell on the subject, Mr. 
Ticknor said : " There is no use in trying to stir up 



90 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

our people to make a decent show of themselves at 
the Crystal Palace ; they won't do it." The reason as- 
signed for the refusal was that "the French, the Rus- 
sians, and the Germans send their goods to England 
as means of advertising them all over the world ; we 
look for no sale out of our own country. Why then 
should we take the trouble and expense to advertise 
abroad ? " ^ At the International Exhibition of 1862 
the United States again failed to do justice to them- 
selves. At the Exhibitions in Paris and Vienna they 
were far better represented than at those held in Lon- 
don. Yet none of these exhibitions afforded anything 
like an adequate notion of what could be done by the 
Republic when she chose to put forth her strength. 
Those persons only who have devoted themselves to 
giving a minute account of the several things exhi- 
bited can convey to the reader a proper notion of the 
extraordinary richness of this department. In my 
opinion, though very far behind some nations in 
particular things, the United States occupied the 
front rank when their performance was regarded as 
a whole. 

After giving cordial praise to the United States, 
the impartial chronicler must emphatically state that 
the display made by the Mother-land and her at- 
tached Colonies and Dependencies was equally re- 
markable. Nothing like it had been seen in any 
Exhibition which I had visited. For the first time, 
the great British Colonies showed what they could 
do when put upon their mettle. Chief among 
the Dependencies is India, while Canada is chief 
among the Colonies. Both justified theu^ station by 

' Memoirs of George Tickuor, vol. ii. p. 271. 



THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 91 

the display which they made. The curiously carved 
furniture, the exquisite tissues, the beautiful shawls, 
the peculiar jewellery of India, ranked high among 
the attractions of this building. As for the Domi- 
nion of Canada, the effect of the display made by her 
proved extraordinary. Australians, who had been 
accustomed to import certain articles from the 
United States, have now learned that similar articles 
can be procured on more advantageous terms from 
their fellow-colonists in North America, and they have 
decided to give Canada the preference in the future. 
Ignorance of what the Dominion can produce is the 
rule in the United States ; when citizens of that 
country saw what had actually been contributed by 
Canada their surprise was unbounded. The most 
depreciatory remark on the subject which I heard 
or read was that Canadian manufactures, though 
varied and excellent in their way, closely resembled 
those of the United States. 

The mineral products of the Dominion were well 
set forth and suitably classified in a section apart. 
The plan of displaying samples of the mineral wealth 
of the whole country in a separate collection was a 
very good one, for it enabled the observer to form 
something like a fair idea alike of the great extent 
of the Dominion and of the multiplicity, as well as 
value of its resources. Specimens were given of 
the coal, not inferior to the best found elsewhere, 
which is won alike on the Atlantic and Pacific side of 
the Continent. The Nova Scotian granite could com- 
pare in hardness and capability of polish with that 
which is quarried at Aberdeen and Peterhead. Slate 
was shown equal to the best that comes from Wales. 
Specimens of ironstone, of lead, silver, and copper 



92 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

ores proved the abundance of the useful metals in the 
Dommion. A pyramid represented the quantity of 
gold found in the Province of British Columbia. 
Much has been written about the gold which comes 
from Australia and California, but the public are not 
familiar with the returns from this Province. I have 
before me some statistics compiled by Mr. Good, 
tlie Deputy-Minister of Mines there, from which I 
make the following extracts. From 1858, the year 
in which gold was first found, down to the year 
which is past, the total returns are estimated at 
upwards of §38,000,000. The average earnings per 
year of each miner during that period were $658. 
The largest return in any one year was made in 
1864; the number of miners then employed was 
4,400, and their average yearly earnings were $848 
per man. In 1875, the yield was but $400,000 
under tliat of 18G4, while the number of miners had 
fallen to less than one-half, so that the average 
earnings per man were much higher, being $1,22"_*. 
Seeing that in the most favourable circumstances a 
miner's income averages about £300 a year, it 
cannot be said that this form of gold-getting is the 
quickest way in which to grow rich. The Australian 
Colonies exhibited pyramids, like that of British 
Columbia, which they styled gold trophies, and 
which were conspicuous monuments of vast auriferous 
wealth. They also showed specimens of their coal, 
copper, iron, tin, antimony, nickel, lead, and other 
metals; of their grain, wool, silk, tobacco, fruits, 
and wines, and of the trees which are peculiar to 
their land. Most notable for the arrans^ement of 
its exhibit was the Colony of Queensland. A series 
of large coloured photographs, hung along the walls. 



THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 93 

enabled the spectator to understand the appearance 
of the country, while the products were classified 
and arranged in order underneath. Not a Colony 
had forgotten to send something. The Cape of 
Good Hope displayed some of its ostrich feathers 
and wines, its minerals and coal, its fruits and 
diamonds. There were samples of the sugar and 
rum of British Guiana; the Island of Jamaica had 
a fine assortment of woods, spirits, and spices ; some 
curious ornaments and vegetable products had come 
from the little known Seychelles Islands, beautiful 
artificial flowers, formed of delicate shells, from the 
Bahamas, and filigree work, as fine as any made in 
Genoa, had come from the Gold Coast. In short, a 
walk through the courts occupied by the British 
Empire gave a better notion of the vastness and 
wealth of that Empire than pages of statistics. 

The Machinery Hall, as might have been expected, 
contained plenty of things to interest the simple 
spectator and to instruct the practical mechanician. 
Many machines, which were considered extraordinary 
novelties at the Great Exhibition of 1851, are now 
antiquated or commonplace. Then people gazed 
with wonder upon Applegarth's cylindrical printing 
press turning out printed sheets of the Illustrated 
London News in uninterrupted succession, upon the 
columns of water raised in continuous streams by 
Appleton's and Gwynne's rotary pumps, upon the 
conversion of sheets of paper into finished envelopes 
in Mr. De la Rue's ingenious machine. Far more 
wonderful printing presses, far more powerful pumps, 
and still more perfect envelope-making machinery 
were to be seen in operation in the international 
exhibition of 1876. It was considered a great feat, 



94 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

in 1851, to produce a sheet of paper a mile long; 
now, rolls of paper, eacli four miles in lengtli, are 
daily consumed by the score in newspaper offices 
where Walter, Hoe, or Bullock printing presses are 
employed. The Walter press was one of the sights 
of the Machinery Hall. Comparisons were made 
between this triumph of English ingenuity and 
journalistic enterprise and the competing presses of 
Hoe and Bullock, which demonstrated what had 
been done in the United States. Perhaps if the 
whole truth had been known, the impression made 
on the public mind would have been even greater. 
The Walter press used in printing the Times is, so 
to speak, the direct product of the Times as a news- 
paper. The design of its founder was not only to 
produce a newspaper second to none, but also to 
print it in the best possible way. After Mr. Emer- 
son's visit to England in 1847, he wrote as follows 
concerning that great journal : " It has shown those 
qualities which are dear to Englishmen, unflinching 
adherence to its objects, prodigal intellectual ability, 
and a towering assurance, backed by the perfect 
organization in its printing-house, and its world- 
^vide net-work of correspondence and reports." The 
Walter press is the last, but not the only illustration 
of the judicious and far-seeing policy with which the 
Times has been conducted. One of these presses 
was at work every day printing the New Yorh Times ; 
a large crowd was always present watching with 
simple curiosity or keenly critical eye the press 
which many practical men maintained to be superior 
as a whole to any of those which enjoyed a great 
reputation in the United States. I will not say that 
it is unrivalled. If I were to do so I should be 



THE INTERNATrONAL EXHIBITION. 95 

called prejudiced. But I may record that a United 
States engineer who had never seen the Walter 
press before, who was prepared to find that it had 
been greatly overrated, and who carefully compared 
it with its rivals, expressed to me his surprise at 
the excellence of its design, of its workmanship 
and of its performance. 

No lesson could have been more impressive than 
that learned by simply turning from these presses 
pouring forth perfectly printed newspapers at the 
rate of fifteen thousand copies an hour, to the rude 
press at which Benjamin Franklin once worked. 
Marvellous as are the strides made by the art 
of printing in the course of a century, progress in 
the future may be yet more astounding. A com- 
bined type-founding and composing machine shown 
in this hall proves that greater feats are contem- 
plated than have yet been achieved. By simply 
striking a set of keys, in succession, the operator 
makes type from molten metal and arranges the 
type in words. After the impression has been 
worked ofi", the types are returned to the melting 
pot, and are again ready for the magical transforma- 
tion from a molten state into a solid form, by means 
of which a printed page can be produced. 

A novelty not so great as this, but still worthy of 
mention, is a machine called a type-writer. The 
purpose of this machine is to produce a fairly good 
resemblance to a printed page, as rapidly as the 
same number of letters can be written with a pen. 
The machine is said to be so simple that a little 
child can work it. This is the stereotyped recom- 
mendation of a sewing machine. Indeed, inventors 
seem to think that they have succeeded in their 



96 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

objects when they are able to boast that children 
can actuate their new machinery. A very little 
child can turn the handle or move the treadle of a 
sewing machine, or make a noise by striking the 
keys of a piano, yet the same child may fail to 
stitch a shirt even with the help of a sewing machine, 
or to play a tune upon a piano. Nothing can be 
easier than to form a word by striking the keys of 
the type-writer, yet as much practice is required to 
be able to use it eflfectively as is required to learn 
to play well upon a musical instrument. Mr. 
Alissoff sent a type-writer from St. Petersburg to 
compete with that made in the United States by 
Messrs. Remington. The Russian machine, though 
lacking in speed, had some very good points about 
it. A type-writer of Norwegian origin was exhibited 
in London several years ago ; it was very expensive, 
an objection which applies to this one from Russia. 
The American machine costs twenty guineas in Lon- 
don, a price at which the profit must be ample, if 
it be true that the cost of production is less than 
half that sum. 

Among the innumerable things worthy of notice 
in this hall, I am disposed to pronounce the 
Bray ton Hydro- Carbon engine as best rewarding 
investigation. I think that the inventor of this 
engine has conclusively solved the problem how to 
employ petroleum to the best advantage for the 
purpose of producing motive power. Listead of 
using the petroleum to heat a steam-boiler, he uses 
it to produce a motive power directly, as in gas- 
engines. Thus, he dispenses with furnaces and 
boilers altogether, while he can work his engine on 
a large scale, which cannot be done in the case either 



THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 97 

of a caloric or a gas engine. I saw one of fifteen 
horse power which worked well ; one of double that 
power had been tested and found to work as satis- 
factorily as those of a smaller power. If antici- 
pations, which appear to me to be justified by the 
results already obtained, are fully realized after 
longer experience, this hydro-carbon engine will be 
a real addition to mechanical powers. 

The display of weighing machinery was very 
extensive, arguing an enormous demand in the 
United States for such machines. The exhibitors 
were ready to let visitors test their machines by 
being weighed upon or in them ; some of these were 
adapted to the metric as well as the old scale. I 
had the pleasure of learning not only what was my 
" Centennial weight " in pounds avoirdupois, but 
also that this represented, according to the metric 
scale, seventy-seven kilograms and seven hectograms. 
An exhibitor of lithographic presses offered visitors 
a memorial of their visit in exchange for fifty cents. 
This consisted of a highly ornamented sheet, certi- 
fying that the person whose name was inserted in the 
blank space had been present at the International 
Exhibition of 1876, this memorable fact being at- 
tested by the facsimile signatures of General Grant, 
President of the United States; Mr. Hartranft, 
Governor of the State of Pennsylvania, and Mr. 
Stokley, Mayor of Philadelphia. The certificate, I 
was assured, would not only be an ornament to a 
room when framed and hung up therein, but would 
be an heir-loom greatly prized by my descendants. 
I refrained from obtaining this precious heir-loom at 
the small cost of fifty cents; but citizens of the 
United States thought the notion a good one, and 

H 



98 COLITMBTA AND CANADA. 

were as ready to buy these certificates as Parisians 
were to buy certificates that they had heroically 
remained in Paris during the siege. 

Another form of personal commemoration was 
provided in a corridor of the Memorial Hall. A large 
fireproof iron safe shown there was intended to pre- 
serve two huge volumes during a century, one volume 
containing the photographs, the other the signatures 
of citizens of the United States. Thus a future 
generation of Republicans will learn in 1976, from 
signatures in faded ink and from pictures in faded 
outline, how their deceased progenitors wrote and 
looked. The collection of pictures in this Hall 
was very fine and instructive. Never before had so 
many works of the best modern English artists been 
brought together. The Royal Academy contributed 
the diploma pictures of its members ; these pic- 
tures being then shown in public for the first time. 
Among them were the diploma pictures of West, 
Constable, Turner, Wilkie, and other artists whose 
names are household words. Mr. Frith's picture of 
the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales, 
contributed by the Queen, attracted the most notice. 
It was one of the few whicli the ordinary sight-seer 
could thoroughly appreciate, its artistic short- 
comings being no demerits in his eyes. The " Rail- 
way Station," by the same artist, was included in 
this collection ; but its interest for American specta- 
tors was very slight. Pointing it out to some 
friends, I remarked that the sum of £20,000 had 
been realized by the sale and exhibition of the 
picture; some bystanders overheard the remark, and 
one of them said to me, " Is that really so. Sir ? " 
Replying that I believed the fact to be as I had 



THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 99 

stated, he communicated the information to others, 
the result being that, in a few minutes, the picture 
attracted a dense crowd of gazers, lost in admi- 
ration at its value in pounds sterling. Two portraits 
in the British collection were fraught with soul- 
stirring memories and painful reflections; those of 
Washington and Wellington. That of the great 
Duke represented him as he was in old age, and, as 
I can testify from personal remembrance, did so with 
perfect fidelity; that of the great commoner de- 
picted him as he appeared at a time when he had 
achieved immortal fame by his unsurpassed patriot- 
ism and statesmanship, and when his earthly course 
had been nearly run. Both are excellent pictures, 
that of Washington being the best portrait of him 
which is extant; it is known as the Lansdowne 
portrait, was painted by Gilbert Stuart, and is now 
the property of Mr. J. Delaware Lewis. Some 
objections were raised to the portrait being shown 
in a conspicuous place among the works of art con- 
tributed by the Motherland, and an attempt was 
made to have it transferred to the United States 
department. The attempt failed. The persons who 
made it must have forgotten or been unaware that, 
with the exception of Cromwell, no British worthy 
receives more unstinted honour than Washington, 
and must never have heard that, in the National 
Portrait Gallery at South Kensington, where are 
hung the portraits of the great men in whom the 
United Kingdom glories, the portrait of Washing- 
ton has an honoured place. Among the thousands 
who looked upon the portrait of Wellington there 
were very few who did so with intelligent interest. 
To the citizens of the United States he is a mere 

H 2 



100 COLUMBIA ANO PANADA. 

name and nothing more. Some acquaintances from 
New England, whose knowledge of European history 
was far more extensive than that of the ordinary 
sight-seer, candidly told me that their knowledge of 
what the Duke had accomplished was but shadowy, 
and that their interest in him was of the slightest 
possible kind. The admission has been made so 
often and unreservedly in the journals of the United 
States, that the British collection excelled the others 
in completeness and attraction, that I shall not be 
chargeable with prejudice in calling the others 
commonplace and meagre. The NeAV York Tribune, 
writing about the show of pictures in the United 
States department, used the phrase " acres of 
mediocrity," to characterize the collection as a 
whole. There were, indeed, some excellent pictures ; 
but too many, like Rothermel's " Battle of Gettys- 
burg," excited wonder as to why they should have 
obtained a prominent place in the collection. 

An inspection of the United States show of pic- 
tures confirmed me in the opinion expressed in the 
third chapter, that their artists, though not lacking 
in imaginative powers or in technical skill, have 
not yet succeeded in forming themselves into a 
national school. British painters may be chargeable 
with many deficiencies or insular peculiarities ; but 
they cannot be accused of imitating the manner of 
any foreign school. The finest works in art and 
literature are produced for the gratification of the 
world and not of a single nation only ; they delight 
mankind because they appeal to a universal senti- 
ment. United States artists may well forego the 
fame of founding a national school, if they succeed 
in making themselves at home everywhere. 



THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 10 L 

The number of paintings by the best foreign 
artists was very small. A Spanish and a French 
artist had produced works designed to gratify those 
persons who attended such a gathering as that at 
Philadelphia. The one represented the " Landing 
of the Pilgrim Fathers ;" the pilgrims being depicted 
kneeling in prayer, with their hands folded across 
their chests, just as worshippers do in Spanish 
Roman Catholic Churches, and as no Puritan ever 
did either in Old or New England. The French 
artist depicted the " Signing of the Declaration of 
Independence." The delegates were shown in atti- 
tudes familiar to those persons who have seen the 
French Assembly at Versailles when in a state of 
excitement, some raising their hands in token of 
assent, others eagerly pressing forward to append 
their names to the Declaration. This was as 
historically inaccurate as the notion of the Pil- 
grims formed by the Spanish artist. The Decla- 
ration was signed by John Hancock, the President 
of Congress, and countersigned by Charles Thomp- 
son, the Secretary. Three months elapsed before 
all the signatures had been attached to it. Spec- 
tators, ignorant of this fact, thought the picture a 
very fine representation of a historical scene. 

The display of implements and produce in the 
Agricultural Hall was very extensive and striking. 
Canadian implement-makers distinguished them- 
selves here; their ploughs were highly praised by 
experienced and practical farmers, who pronounced 
them to be superior in model to that which is gene- 
rally preferred in the United States. The English 
agricultural implement-makers refused to contribute, 
basing their objection on the impossibility of being 



102 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

able to sell their articles in the United States through 
the operation of the protective system. A traction 
engine which had been used in the British Depart- 
ment for hauling purposes, was among the very few 
things of the kind in the Exhibition. Such an 
engine is almost indispensable for conducting agri- 
cultural operations on a large scale. The farmer 
who could use it in the prairies of the Middle States 
or the plains of California would gain enormously. 
The makers of this one had sold no less than 2000 
of them elsewhere ; they cannot find a market for 
them in the United States. The price in England is 
£615 ; delivered in New York it is upwards of 
£1000. These were the figures on a placard afi&xed 
to the engine ; the difference between the two sums 
representing what is meant in the United States by 
a prohibitive tariff. One of the exhibits in the 
Agricultural Hall was a live American eagle; his 
keeper was in the uniform of a sergeant in the 
United States army. The bird's name is " Old 
Abe ;" he had been attached to the 8th Wisconsin 
regiment, and had been present at thirty-five 
battles. The desire to possess this feathered hero 
was keen; Colonel Wood of Philadelphia offered 
$10,000 for him; Barnum twice that large sum. 
But the State of Wisconsin would not part with 
him. He is maintained by the State ; eats once a 
day, and will not touch anything except fresh fish, 
fowl, or veal. Photographs of this dainty and bel- 
ligerent eagle were on sale for the benefit of a 
charitable fund. Despite his personal merits and 
services, this bird seemed to me out of place in an 
International Exhibition. The only explanation of 
his appearance which I have met with is that he 



THE INTEENATIONAL EXHIBITION. 103 

served to let visitors see " What a real live bird of 
freedom was like." ^ Unless Franklin had changed 
his mind, he, for one, would have taken no pleasure 
in the sight. He protested against the eagle being 
the symbol of his native land, on the ground that 
" he is a bird of bad moral character ; he does not 
get his living honestly." 

Though the ingenuity of the citizens of the United 
States in advertising is indisputable, yet it was not 
specially displayed within the International Exhibi- 
tion. The most conspicuous advertisers were the 
persons who provided pills for every malady and 
coffins for the victims of the pills. Next in perti- 
nacity were the proprietors of the Gettysburg Kata- 
lysine water. I tasted this fluid, which resembled 
ordinary water so closely that I should not have 
thought it was one of Nature's most wonderful pro- 
ducts. A pamphlet informed me that the Gettysburg 
water, though "in no way distinguishable from that 
found in our domestic springs and wells, except by 
its effects on the diseased human system," possesses 
miraculous properties. It is said to be " pre-emi- 
nently the medicine for childhood and old age;" 
" the evidence on this subject would go far toward 
verifying one of the oldest traditions connected with 
this Continent, which is that there existed upon it a 
youth-restoring spring." Thus I had unconsciously 
taken a draught at the Fountain of Youth, for which 
Ponce de Leon and his followers vainly sought in 
the glades of Florida ; unfortunately, I felt neither 
younger nor stronger after swallowing the precious 
beverage than I did before I had even read its name. 

" Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 9th September, 1876. 



104 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

The circulars ^iven away by foreign exhibitors 
were not such extraordinary specimens of the Eng- 
lish language as 1 have received in other Exhibitions. 
I reprint as a foot-note the most curious one that 
I met with.""* 

A form of advertising, very common in other 
Exhibitions, was less frequently practised here. 
This was the gratis distribution of samples. One 
enthusiast gave away specimens of honey which had 
the advantage, in his opinion, of having been pro- 
duced without the intervention or aid of an insect ; 
those persons who tasted it preferred the natural 
product of the busy bee. A firm had a small oven 
in the Agricultural Hall wherein they baked small 
cakes to show the excellence of their baking powder 
and flour; the demand for these cakes taxed the 
utmost energies of the makers. Another firm in the 

' " Vegetable, animal, ydrofuga paper. Air water and grease 
light, transparent, strong and flexible, invented and manifactured 
by Professor N. Vallini, Chemist in the Eoyal University of 
Bologna (Italy), invention of the past year 1875. This paper for 
its worth, can doubtless be useful to many and different applications 
in industry and trade. For its strength, flexibility, and imper- 
meability it supplies all common packing-cloth. For involving 
salted meats and victuals for land and sea troops, and all what is 
necessary in maratime transports. In medicine and surgery, pro- 
tecting sores and wounds from the contact of air, such as anti- 
reumatic, and for maladies of the skin, &c. Its transparent 
qualities serve for transcribing drawings of every kind, and sur- 
rogating glass when it is necessary', against the direct action of the 
solar light. Also its impermeability from grease, can be used for 
parfumery in packing cosmetics, pommatum, covering vases of 
essences, &c. Finally, in the hat business for lining, either for 
hats or for bonnets, price Tof. 500 sheets, of centimeter 50 by 
75." This paper may be really as remarkable as the circular 
which furnishes such a lucid description of it ; yet it bears a close 
resemblance to the oiled paper which is no novelt}' in this country. 



THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 105 

same Hall gave away miniature pails made of tinned 
iron. These pails were as useless as the toy pots 
and pans which amuse very little children, yet a 
crowd besieged the place where they were distri- 
buted, each person struggling violently to procure 
one, and wearing it as a trophy. Grown-up children 
of the Republic delight in getting something without 
paying for it, as much as less enlightened people. 

Visitors to Great Exhibitions have always appeared 
as intent upon dining sumptuously and drinking 
copiously as upon improving their minds, and the 
visitors to the International Exhibition in Fairmount 
Park were not exceptions to this rule. The arrange- 
ments for supplying the hungry and thirsty were on 
a very large scale, and in this respect the Exhibition 
was quite on a par with those held in London, Paris, 
and Vienna. There was a French restaurant, where 
the visitor could fancy himself in Paris, not only when 
eating his cutlets and drinking his claret, but also 
when paying the bill. A German restaurant sup- 
plied the delicacies of the Fatherland. An American 
restaurant provided every comestible for which there 
was a demand. Those persons who liked the homely 
pork and beans of New England could dine upon 
them in a New England kitchen ; a Frenchman who, 
being determined to try everything, made the ex- 
periment of tasting this national dish, assured me 
that he had never safFered so much since the time 
when he tasted haggis in Scotland. A Vienna 
bakery supplied the delicious rolls for which Vienna 
is famous, and coffee not less delightful, far better 
indeed than that which could be obtained in a 
Tunisian cafe not far off. The list of all the places 
at which people could quench their thirst and 



lOG COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

appease tlieir hunger would occupy too much space ; 
I shall name but one more, which was generally called 
the " Dairy," but of which the official name Avas The 
Dairy Association Building. It was a building in a 
rustic style, wherein milk, cream, butter-milk, fruit, 
cakes, bread, and butter were sold and consumed. 
On the bill of fare there was a new article of diet said 
to possess extraordinary merits. Its use by the 
ailing would cure them more certainly than the most 
successful medicine ; its use by the robust would in- 
sure them against sickness ; in short, when I read the 
recommendations of this new eatable I fancied that 
an incalculable boon had been conferred upon the 
human race. The name of this precious novelty is 
avena. For some years the food itself has been used 
in Scotland under the name of oatmeal. Whether 
those persons who are unable to appreciate porridge 
will eat avena pudding with pleasure I cannot tell, 
but if they shall do so then it will be clear that there 
is something in a name. Perhaps Dr. Johnson 
would have treated oats with less contempt had he 
known them by their Latin designation only. The 
lovers of statistics may be pleased to learn that, 
during the six months the Exhibition was open, five 
of the restaurants sold upwards of 400 tons of 
bread, 400 tons of beef, ham, and poultry ; 20 tons 
of fresh fish, and upwards of 400,000 gallons of 
beer. If complete tables were compiled of the work 
of the refreshment department, it would appear that 
the International Exhibition at Philadelphia had 
been an unrivalled theatre for the exercise of one 
form of human industry. 



107 



VI. 

PHILADELPHIA DUEING THE EXHIBITION. 

One evening, whilst seated in the smoking-room of 
the Colonnade Hotel, I heard the strains of martial 
music. This was so common a pleasure that it did 
not excite in me any curiosity about the cause, the 
city of Brotherly Love having been the daily scene 
of semi-military processions headed by at least one 
brass band. On the present occasion, however, 
the procession marched into the Colonnade Hotel 
instead of passing along Chesnut Street ; the band 
which preceded it came to a halt, without ceasing to 
play, in the entrance hall. For upwards of an hour 
this band made the whole building resound with 
melodies, which appeared to give extreme delight to 
the coloured waiters. Having exhausted their pro- 
gramme or their strength, the musicians marched 
off in single file through the bar-room to the street, 
pausing on their way to swallow the drinks which 
were freely offered to them. Before a quarter of an 
hour had elapsed another band arrived ; after having 
made as much discord as its predecessor, it departed 
in the same dignified and measured style through the 
bar-room. A third band next appeared and kept the 
occupants of the hotel thoroughly excited till the 
night was far spent. 



108 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

The members of the procession then strove, with 
perfect success, to render the remainder of the night 
hideous by yelUng and shouting; they, too, paid 
frequent visits to the bar-room ; but, unhappily, they 
returned into the hotel instead of disappearing, like 
the bands, into the street. Before their arrival, the 
400 beds in the hotel had been occupied, yet make- 
shift accommodation for an additional 300 persons 
was provided by the proprietors, who were radiant 
with satisfaction at this influx of distinguished 
visitors. For three days and nights did the new- 
comers crowd the hotel ; during that time, the 
peaceful occupants were regaled with military music 
till it was time to go to bed, and then kept awake, 
till an early hour in the morning, by sounds of 
revelry in the corridors. Other hotels were favoured 
in the same way. Nor was it easy to escape from 
the din by going into the open air. At least one 
procession and three bands imparted animation to 
the principal thoroughfares by day and night. The 
energy expended by all concerned must have been 
enormous. None seemed to care about taking rest 
or even taking food ; whisky, music, and march- 
ing: sufficed for their wants. Now and then, 
however, the human frame could not bear this 
strain upon it ; those persons who had been over- 
powered by the whisky, the music, or the march- 
ing, were tenderly carried to their rooms by their 
comrades, and laid upon their beds. These visitors 
were members of Encampments of the United States 
Order of Knights Templar, and they had chosen 
Philadelphia as the place for their annual gathering 
in 1876. They numbered 8500. 

The spectacle was alike novel and sensational ; I 



PHILADELPHIA DURING THE EXHIBITION. 109 

had never before seen a Knight Templar, clothed and 
in his right mind, walking along a public street, nor 
had I ever before wittingly slept, or tried to sleep 
under the same roof with one. There are several 
Encampments in the United Kingdom, upwards of 
a hundred being registered under the Grand 
Conclave of the United Religious and Military 
Orders of the Temple, and of St. John of Jerusalem, 
Palestine, Ehodes, and Malta. The Prince of 
Wales is Grand Master of this body. It gives 
pleasure to many loyal and rational subjects of Queen 
Victoria to meet at stated times in private rooms, 
arrogate to themselves the titles of Knights, and 
clothe themselves in garments which they would be 
ashamed to wear, in the presence of their non-masonic 
friends, on any more serious occasion than a fancy 
dress ball. But they are careful to do these things 
in a corner ; they would as soon think of holding an 
Encampment in a balloon as of amusing themselves 
by perambulating the streets in the full dress of their 
Order. Indeed, Freemasons in the United Kingdom 
eschew all superfluous display ; their brethren in the 
United States appear to think it the most natural 
thing in the world that members of secret societies 
should parade in the light of day. As a Past-Master 
of one of the oldest lodges in the world, I ought to 
have some acquaintance with Freemasonry, and I 
certainly have a greater respect for its tenets and 
principles than is manifested by His Holiness the 
Pope, yet I cannot regard these public appearances 
as in accordance with the objects of the Craft. 
Many Masons, with whom I conversed in Philadelphia, 
were so irreverent as to characterize the Knight 
Templar degree as a piece of tomfoolery, designed 



110 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

to gratify those brethren who are weak enough to set 
store upon forms without meaning, and titles with- 
out sense. These are harsh sayings with which, of 
course, I have no sympathy. The innocent pastimes 
of men who are supposed to have attained the age of 
discretion ought to be respected, and a man might do 
worse than try to play the medijBval part of a Knight 
Templar. He might become a Carlist, a Communist, 
or a Fenian, and thereby prove a greater terror to 
law-respecting citizens than the most enthusiastic 
Sir Knight. 

Though the Knights Templar who thronged the 
streets and hotels of Philadelphia had swords at 
their sides, as well as cocked hats on their heads, 
yet they had the reverse of a bellicose aspect, and 
they seemed much more addicted to the worship of 
Bacchus than disposed for the service of Mars. No 
one whose knowledge of the Order is gathered from 
the Talisman would suspect any of these hilarious 
Knights Templar of deserving the denunciation 
levelled against those who went to the Holy Land, 
" Their peace is war, and their faith is falsehood," 
nor is it probable that their Grand Master could 
even in imagination perpetrate the villainy for which 
Saladin cut off the head of Grand Master Sir Giles 
Amaury Yet it was difficult to believe that they 
were simple citizens of the Republic, so grand was 
their appearance, and so proud did they seem of their 
fine clothes. As a rule, there is no more soberly 
dressed person than a citizen of the United States. 
A paternal Congress has forbidden a civilian to in- 
dulge in the vanity known in Europe as court costume, 
and has enjoined that, when he attends a foreign 
Court, he shall wear ordinary evening dress. No 



PHILADELPHIA DURING THE EXHIBITION. Ill 

restriction, however, is put upon the citizen donning 
any kind of mihtary uniform he pleases, and this is 
said to be one of the reasons why the order of 
Knights Templar is attractive and popular in the 
United States. Its members have the further 
gratification of reading their names, with handles to 
them, in the newspapers ; and when plain Brown, 
Jones, and Eobinson see themselves in print as Sir 
John Brown, Sir Thomas Jones, Sir Joseph Robinson, 
they may experience the satisfaction of men who have 
made their mark. 

Till I beheld these Knights Templar, I had never 
realized the effect produced by entire regiments clad 
in the uniforms of general officers of the Grand 
Duchy of Gerolstein. With cocked hats adorned 
with feathers upon their heads, embroidered trousers 
on their legs, tunics round their bodies, their breasts 
being as thickly covered with ribbons and medals 
as the breasts of officers in the service of the 
Prince of Monaco, and with swords in their hands 
resembling the toy swords of children, these Sir 
Knights appeared to the simple-minded a splendid 
spectacle, and to the critic a set of guys. Many of 
them had wives, and their wives wore ribbons and 
medals also. The citizens of Philadelphia derived 
much enjoyment from the pageant ; not a complaint 
was made when traffic was suspended for several 
hours on the day of the grand procession. The 
proceedings at the meeting for the despatch of busi- 
ness were reported in the newspapers, the speeches 
being as full of self -laudation as space and time 
would permit. The Knights Templar appeared to 
be thoroughly pleased with themselves and the 
world at large ; many of them assured me that they 



112 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

had experienced " a real good time." I saw them 
leave the city, without deeply regretting that their 
stay had been so short. In the bar-room of the 
Colonnade Hotel business was very dull after their 
departure, but peace reigned in the hall and corri- 
dors at night, and sweet sleep returned to many a 
pillow. 

An invitation to attend the seventh annual re- 
union of the Society of the Army of the Potomac 
came to me shortly after the Knights Templar had 
evacuated Philadelphia. The place of meeting was 
the Academy of Music, or, we should call it, the 
Opera House. In the pit were the ordinary mem- 
bers of the society; on the stage were general 
officers, while spectators occupied the other parts 
of the house. The space in front of the galleries 
was decorated with flags and artificial flowers; 
a scene representing the headquarters of the army 
was presented on the stage ; two tents appeared in 
the background ; two field-pieces were conspicuous 
in the foreground, where arms were stacked and 
drums piled in the form of a pyramid. The head- 
quarters' flag of this army, having a lilac ground 
and a golden eagle encircled with a laurel wreath in 
the centre, hung in front of the tents. Nothing was 
wanting to recall the memories of the camp and the 
battle-field. General Hancock presided. He was 
in undress uniform ; with three exceptions the other 
general officers, as well as the officers of lower rank, 
were in plain clothes. Two Russian officers who 
were among the invited guests appeared in full uni- 
form, as did a Lieutenant-General in the Japanese 
army. Indeed, the whole gathering was much less 
martial, from the tailor's point of view, than the 



PHILADELPHIA DUEING THE EXHIBITION. 113 

gathering of Knights Templar. But this was an 
assemblage of veterans, and old soldiers do not 
require to appear in uniform in order to produce an 
impression. 

Tall, portly, and soldier-like in every respect, 
General Hancock seemed well fitted for presiding 
over such a meeting ; his military claims to respect 
perfectly tally with those which are but accidents of 
nature. The few words with which he opened the 
proceedings were in excellent taste, and they were 
uttered in a most effective manner. By reproducing 
them, I shall be spared adding anything in explana- 
tion of the Society's object: — " We are assembled here 
to-day, on the occasion of the annual re-union of our 
Society, to renew and cement friendships formed on 
the field of battle, to inquire as to the welfare of 
absent comrades, to determine the gaps made in our 
ranks by time, and to inaugurate such measures as 
may be possible or necessary to aid worthy comrades 
in distress, or the widows and orphans of deceased 
comrades, who may require our assistance. We 
have no other purpose in meeting here. Here poli- 
tics enter not, either to distract or disturb. We 
meet simply as brothers, who are linked together in 
affection through memories of the past, by common 
dangers incurred, glories gained, privations suffered, 
and hardships endured ; and I am thankful that I am 
permitted to be present with you, and that the privi- 
lege of calling to order this meeting of my old com- 
rades devolves upon me. But before proceeding 
with the exercises of this occasion it is proper that 
we should return thanks to Almighty God for His 
goodness for permitting us to be here and in health 
to-day." Thereupon General Hancock requested 



114 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

tlie Rev. William M'Vicker, chaplain of the cavalry 
corps, to offer up prayer. It would be unseemly to 
criticize the prayer which followed, yet I may be 
pardoned for saying that in my opinion it was far 
too lonsr, far too rhetorical, and sounded too much 
like a speech. One of the audience, to whom I made 
a remark to this effect, seemed surprised at my sim- 
plicity, informing me that, as this was the only 
opportunity the reverend gentleman would have of 
speaking, he did quite right in taking full advantage 
of it. I was answered, but not convinced. The 
Mayor of Philadelphia, the Hon. W. S. Stokley, 
being introduced to the audience by the Chairman, 
his Honour pulled out a piece of paper from his 
pocket, put a double-eyeglass on his nose, and began 
to read a speech. I had thought it impossible that any 
citizen could attain so exalted a position without being 
able to speak with perfect fluency, on any subject, at 
a moment's notice. An ex-Grovernor of the State of 
Illinois once told me that nothing had struck him 
more during a visit to England than the bad speak- 
ing of her public men ; and he modestly hinted that, 
had he not been a better speaker than any of them, 
Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Disraeli, Mr. Bright not excepted, 
he would never have achieved success among his 
fellow-citizens. But the example of Mr. Stokley, 
to say nothing of that set by General Grant, tells 
against the universal application of the rule that a 
ready tongue is indispensable to all ambitious citizens 
of the United States. As a specimen of municipal 
oratory in a Republican country, I shall add the 
speech. If rather too florid in diction, it had the 
merit of brevity, and on that account, probably, was 
very well received : — " Soldiers of the Army of the 



PHILADELPHIA DURING THE EXHIBITION. 115 

Potomac ; as the Executive of the city of Philadel- 
phia, it affords me pleasure to welcome you to our 
city, and extend to you its hospitalities upon the 
occasion of the seventh annual re-union of your 
society. When our land was devastated by war and 
the soldiers of the Republic were marching to the 
front, they were always kindly received by the citi- 
zens of Philadelphia, and their wants cared for while 
passing through the city ; when sick and wounded 
and in our hospitals they were nursed with a 
mother's tenderness by our wives, sisters, and 
daughters. Now that all strife is ended, and the 
bright wings of peace are spread over the land, we 
extend to you, the survivors of those who fought so 
nobly and bravely to maintain the honour of their 
country, a right cordial welcome, and trust that 
your stay among us may be made pleasant. For 
those of your brave comrades who fill a hero's grave 
there is a spot in our memory which will ever 
remain fresh, and over their last resting-place we 
will pay the homage of a grateful country due to 
those who gave their lives in its defence." Here- 
upon the band struck up " Hold the Fort," an air 
which seems to have taken its place with " Yankee 
Doodle " and " Hail, Columbia " among the national 
airs of the country. 

The event of the day was now at hand ; the delivery 
of an oration by General Dix, who has a civic as 
well as a military reputation, having filled the posts, 
among others, of Governor of New York and Minister 
to France. In one of the two sentences with which he 
introduced General Dix, the Chairman remarked, 
" Alike distinguished for his eminent civil services, his 
scholarly attainments, and for his record as a soldier, 

I 2 



116 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

he has a tongue to woo you, even if it be in Latin or 
Greek, and if you should prove recreant as hsteners he 
has the nerve to shoot you on the spot." It is for- 
tunate, perhaps, that General Dix did not attempt to 
enforce a Latin orGreek oration upon unwilling ears in 
the manner suggested, as he would possibly have had 
more shooting to do than he could well perform. 
Though advanced in years, having reached, if not 
passed four score, he yet spoke with the vigour 
of a comparatively young man. He began by say- 
ing that the pleasures of the day " would have been 
greatly enhanced by the presence of the heroic com- 
mander by whom you were led, and whose distin- 
guished military services have been crowned by the 
highest civic honours of the Republic." Every one 
seemed to share in the regret thus expressed; the 
presence of General Grant on such an occasion 
appeared almost a matter of course ; but no explana- 
tion was given of his absence. General Dix went on 
to say that he had undertaken, at very short notice, to 
deliver an address; that, though time had been 
wanting "to go forth into the field of oratory and 
gather its flowers to give colour and fragrance to 
the occasion, yet he hoped a familiar address would 
prove acceptable instead of the formal oration which 
the audience had a right to expect." Certainly the 
address, which occupied three-quarters of an hour in 
delivery, and which was spoken by him with scarcely 
a reference to his notes, was a proof that age had not 
impaired either the voice or memory of General Dix. 
He reviewed the century during which the nation 
had existed, characterizing the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence and the Emancipation Proclamation as the 
chief and most pregnant achievements of the period. 



PHILADELPHIA DURING THE EXHIBITlUN. 117 

He was most emphatic in liis admiration of President 
Lincoln's proclamation on the ground that " the 
emancipation of four millions of slaves, and their 
elevation to the rank of freemen, by a single act of 
Executive authority, stands alone in the annals of 
our race." I am glad that the act does stand alone, 
the worst part of it was its being as despotic in 
character as if it had been a Russian ukase or a 
decree signed with the vermilion pencil by the 
Emperor of China. It would have been more in 
keeping with the annals of the race, had emancipa- 
tion been the result of legislation. Though General 
Dix held, and rightly held, that the proclamation 
was justified by the necessity of the moment, yet 
this ought to be a subject for regret rather than 
congratulation. In his copious references to the 
achievement of Independence he never said a word 
about the part played and the assistance rendered 
by France, though such a statement would not only 
have been in good taste but would have been his- 
torically appropriate. Few things are more certain 
in past history than the fact that France was the 
joint founder of the United States. To the evident 
delight of his hearers, he repeated a list of the 
improvements which had been effected during the 
first century of the Republic, ending the recital 
by saying : — " A hundred years ago it was the 
work of months to convey intelligence from ocean to 
ocean. Now a message by telegraph leaving here 
at the rising of the sun will outrun him in his 
course, and reach the Pacific before his rays have 
lighted up the peaks of the Rocky Mountains. At 
the beginning of the century we were a feeble com- 
munity struggling for existence, and scarcely known 



118 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

to the Great Powers of tlie Eastern Hemisphere. 
We now stand before the world as their equal : and 
all the nations of the earth come as contributors to 
the innumerable products of industry, science, art, 
taste, and genius which have their exposition here. 
This is the priceless inheritance which as soldiers 
you helped to maintain against the open shock of 
war. It devolves on you now, by a conscientious 
and enlightened discharge of your duty as good 
citizens, to resist the insidious dangers of peace — 
the inroads of extravagance, faithlessness, and cor- 
ruption in private and public life." 

Having expressed his warm hopes alike for their 
future welfare and for the continued prosperity of 
the Union which they had helped to save, he sat 
down amidst that form of applause, peculiar to the 
United States, which is described as " three cheers 
and a tiger," and which may be rendered more intel- 
ligible to the reader, though not more agreeable to 
the listener, if called " three cheers and a growl." 

General Dix sat on the right of the Chairman ; 
the seat on the left was filled by a gentleman about 
whom there was much speculation among the audi- 
ence in my neighbourhood. It was rumoured that 
he was a Southern General, and some said that he 
was General Beauregard. He appeared uneasy and 
out of place, and this tended to confirm the im- 
pression that he was a Southerner. When the 
Chairman rose and introduced him as Mr. Winter, 
it was clear that he was not General Beauregfard. 
When he took a roll of manuscript from his pocket, 
it was evident that he was about to read somethinsr, 
and, before he began to read, the audience learned 
that he was a poet, the Claud Halcro of the day. 



PHILADELPHIA DURING THE EXHIUrnON. 119 

To Lave been requested to write a poem for that 
occasion was, lie said, the greatest honour ever con- 
ferred upon him. The poem he had composed was 
entitled " The Voice of the Silence ;" it set forth 
the contrast between the quiet scenery of what had 
been the theatre of war and the thoughts which re- 
turn to a soldier's mind of the part he had played in 
the tented field. The poem contains reminiscences 
of other poems as well as of battlefields. Some of the 
stanzas are well turned, yet too many are but versified 
rhetoric, and this wearies the reader as it did a few 
of the hearers, even though the versification is not 
devoid of harmony or the rhetoric of point. Having 
procured a copy of the poem, I shall give it entire ; it is 
a favourable sample of the poems which are provided 
for the gratification of a United States audience on 
such an occasion as the present. The frequency and 
heartiness of the applause proved that the officers of 
the Army of the Potomac admired it : — 

I. III. 

" Bright on the sparkling sward, this Yet in your vision evermore, 

day, Beneath aSrighted skies, 

The youthful summer gleams ; With crash of sound, with reek of gore, 

The roses in the south wind play. The martial pageants rise. 

The slumberous woodland di-eams. Audacious banners rend the air. 

In golden light, 'neath clouds of Dark steeds of battle neigh, 

fleece. And frantic through the sulphurous 

Mid bird-songs wild and free, glare, 

The blue Potomac flows, in peace. Eaves on the crimson fray. 

Down to the peaceful sea. 

^^- Not time nor chance nor change can 

" No echo from the stormy past drown 

Alarms the placid vale, Your memories proud and high. 

No cannon roar, nor trumpet blast. Nor pluckyovirstarof greatness down 

Nor shatter'd soldier's wail. From glory's deathless sky. 

There's nothing left to mark the For evermore your fame shall bide — 

strife, Your valour tried and true ! 

The triumph or the pain. And that which makes your country's 

Where Nature to her general life pride 

Takes back our lives again." May well be pride to you ! 



120 



COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 



For ever through the soldier's thought 
The soldier's life returns — 

Or where the trampled fields are 
fought, 

Or where the camp-fire bums. 

For him the pomp of morning brings 
A thrill none else can know, 

For him Night waves her sable wings 

O'er many a nameless woe. 



Forget ! the arm may lose its might, 

The tired heart beat low. 
The sun from heaven blot out his 
light. 

The west wind cease to blow, 
But while one spark of life is warm 

Within this mould of clay, 
His soul shall revel in the storm 

Of that tremendous day ! 



How often face to face with death 
In stem suspense he stood, 
While bird and insect held their 
breath 

Within the ambush' d wood ! 
Again he sees the silent hills 

With danger's menace grim ; 
And darkly all the shuddering rills 

Run red with blood for him. 



On mountain slope, in lonely glen. 
By Fate's supreme command. 

The blood of those devoted men 
Has sanctified this land. 

The funeral moss — but not in grief- 
Waves o'er their hallow'd rest. 

And not in grief the laurel leaf 
Drops on the hero's breast. 



For him the cruel sun of noon 

Glares on a bristling plain ; 
For him the cold, disdainful moon 

Lights meadows rough with slain. 
There's death in every sight he sees, 

In every sound he hears ; 
And sunset hush and evening breeze 

Are sad with prison'd tears. 



Tears for the living, when God's gift — 

The fi'iend of man to be — 
Wastes, like the shatter'd spars that 
drift 

Upon the unknown sea ! 
Tears for the wreck who sinks at last. 

No deed of valour done ; 
But no tears for the soul that past 

When honour's fight was won. 



Again worn out in midnight march 

He sinks beside the track ; 
Again beneath the pitying arch 

His dreams of home come back ; 
In morning wind the roses shake 

Around his cottage door, 
And little feet of children make 

Their music on the floor. 



The tones that never more on earth 

Can bid his pulses leap 
King out again in careless mirth 

Across the vales of sleep ; 
And where in horrent splendour roll 

The waves of vict'ry's tide. 
The cherish'd comrades of his soul 

Are glorious at his side ! 



Ho takes the hand of Heavenly Fate 
Who lives and dies for truth ! 

For him the holy angels wait 
In realms of endless youth ! 

The grass upon his grave is green 
With everlasting bloom ; 

And love and blessings make the 
sheen 

Of glory round his tomb. 



Mourn not for them, the loved and 
gone ! 

The cause they died to save 
Plants an eternal corner-stone 

Upon the martyr's grave : 



PHILADELPHIA DUKING THE EXHIBITION. 



121 



And, safe from all the ills we pass, 
Their sleep is sweet and low, 

'Neath requiems of the murmuring 
grass 
And dirges of the snow. 



That sunset wafts its holiest kiss 
Through evening's gathering 
shades, 
That beauty breaks the heart with 
bliss 
The hour before it fades, 
That music seems to merge with 
heaven 
Just when its echo dies, 
Is nature's sacred promise given 
Of Hfe beyond the skies. 



Mourn not ! In life and death they 
teach 

This thought, this truth, sublime : 
There's no man free except he reach 

Beyond the verge of time ! 
So, beckoning up the starry slope. 

They bid our souls to live ; 
And, flooding all the world with 
hope. 

Have taught us to forgive. 



No soldier spurns a fallen foe ! 

No hate of human kind 
Can darken down the generous glow 

That fires the patriot mind ! 



But love shall make the vanquish'd 
strong. 
And mercy lift their ban, 
Where right no more can bend to 
wrong. 
Nor man be slave to man. 

XVIII. 

So from their quiet graves chey speak 

So speaks that quiet scene — 
Where now the violets blossom, meek. 

And all the fields are green. 
There wood and stream and flower 
and bud 

A pure content declare. 
And where the voice of war was 
heard. 

Is heard the voice of prayer. 

XIX. 

Once more in perfect love, Lord, 

Our alien'd hearts unite ! 
And clasp across the broken sword 

The hands that used to smite ! 
And since beside Potomac's wave 

There's nothing left but peace. 
Be fill'd at last the open grave. 

And let the sorrow cease ! 



Sweet from the pitying northern pines 

Their loving whisper flows, 
And sweetly where the orange shines 

The palm-tree woos the rose ! 
Ah ! let that tender music run 

O'er all the years to be, 
And Thy great blessing make us one— 

And make us one with Thee. 



Mr. Winter, who is the dramatic critic of the Neio 
Yorh Tribune^ fully understands the value of his- 
trionic display when reciting a number of verses ; 
the clearness of his enunciation and the propriety 
of his gestures caused his composition to produce 
its full effect. He was congratulated by the Chair- 
man and others on returning to his seat ; he had 
the gratification of hearing General Sherman refer 



122 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

more than once to liis beautiful " pome," while on 
the following day, he might have been pleased still 
more by reading in a leading article of the Phila- 
delphia Press^ " The flowers of the meeting were 
furnished by Mr. William Winter, whose poem was 
as tender and soul-stirring as the memories that 
bind the veterans together. Yesterday's effort ad- 
vances him high in the ranks of American poets." 

The formal proceedings of the day were over, but 
the ofi&cers in the pit had determined to have more 
speeches from the Generals on the stage ; in response 
to their demands General Sherman reluctantly rose 
and advanced to the foot-lights. Upwards of six 
feet in height and spare of frame, he bears a con- 
siderable resemblance to Field Marshal von Moltke. 
The latter, however, is more prim in his attire, and, 
though a much older man, has a more youthful bear- 
ing. Thanking the audience for the compliment 
they had paid him. General Sherman said that he 
had no speech to make ; then he went on to give 
some practical hints and to make a statement which 
was historically inaccurate. I will dispose of the latter 
before summarizing the former. Referring to what 
General Dix had said in his oration, to the effect 
that Great Britain was primarily responsible for 
slavery in the Southern States, he added that this 
was specially true of Georgia, where the Court of 
Great Britain introduced slavery, contrary to the 
declared wishes of the Colonists. If General Sher- 
man had read the first volume of Mr. Force's Tracts, 
he would have learned that the Colonists in Georgia 
had two grievances, the first being that regulations 
had been made rendering it difficult for them to 
procure ardent spirits, the second being that they 



PHILADELPHIA DURING THE EXHIBITION. 123 

found it impossible to obtain the services of negro 
slaves. The truth is, General Oglethorpe, the 
founder of Georgia, had resolved that slavery 
should not exist there with his consent. When he left 
the Colony, the inhabitants, in concert with the 
planters of South Carolina, determined that slavery 
should be introduced, and they succeeded in their ill- 
omened project. Great Britain had neither part nor 
lot in introducing slavery into Georgia.^ The practi- 
cal hints were in substance that it was a mere 
chance which made his hearers and himself officers 
in the Union army, and that, had they been born in 
the South, they would have worn the grey instead of 
the blue. For his own part, he had much sympathy 
with Georgia, having been largely repaid for what 
he had done in that State. He hoped that bygones 
would be forgotten, and a friendly feeling cultivated 
towards those who had once been enemies, provided 
that their former enemies would demean themselves 
so as to merit kindly treatment. Not a sentence 
uttered by General Sherman betrayed the practised 
speaker, yet at this point he produced an effect such 
as Burke aimed at when he threw a dagger on the 
floor of the House of Commons, and Brougham ex- 
pected to achieve when he fell on his knees in the 

^ Generals Dix and Sherman ought to have been familiar with 
the writings, wherein many of the first emigrants from Georgia 
setting forth their grievances, tell how they had left a land, which 
was uninhabitable, for South Carolina, which they designate " a 
land of liberty," because white men were permitted to keep slaves 
there, and wherein they say the grievance of the settlers in 
Georgia against the authorities in England, " is the denying the 
use of negroes, and persisting in such denial after, by repeated 
applications, we had humbly demonstrated the impossibility of 
making improvement to any advantage with white servants." 



124 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

House of Lords, and implored the Peers not to 
reject the Reform Bill. Referring to the possibility 
of brotherly love not being manifested by the 
Southerners in return for the forgiveness of the 
Northerners, he said, should they prove not only 
recalcitrant but rebellious, then " that's the thing," 
pausing for a moment, and pointing with his left 
hand to two field-pieces at the side of the stage. 
The words and the gesture were eloquent above 
anything I have ever witnesssed ; the audience 
cheered for several minutes. Had General Sherman 
been the first of living orators, he could not have 
produced a greater oratorical hit. I was surprised 
not to find any mention of this incident in the 
newspaper reports ; but I was quite prepared to 
learn it had been currently reported that General 
Sherman had made a very belligerent speech. 

General Sheridan, who was next called for, said 
a few words. If General Sherman reminded me of 
Field Marshal von Moltke,General Sheridan reminded 
me still more strongly of ex-Marshal Bazaine. Had 
his hair been grey instead of black, and had he been 
rather more corpulent, he would have been the 
living image of the Frenchman. Wearing his 
uniform with a jauntiness which contrasted with 
the slovenliness of General Sherman, he seemed 
every inch a soldier. General Sheridan told the 
audience that, though a charitable man, he did not 
care to be precipitate in holding out the right hand 
of fellowship to his foes, preferring that they should 
make the first advance, and should be much more 
humble-minded than the Southerners appeared to 
be. It was easy to gather from his manner, as well 
as his words, that he was not only ready, but 



PHILADELPHIA DURING THE EXHIBITION. 125 

desirous, to take the field again with the Army of 
the Potomac. 

Several other Generals had to come to the front 
in response to calls. Most of them made an apology 
for having nothing to say, and then said something 
which proved that they had spoken honestly. One 
who leisurely contented himself with making a bow, 
was applauded as warmly as if he had spoken a few 
commonplaces. The most coy was General Har- 
tranft, the Governor of Pennsylvania. He was 
then one of the candidates for the Presidency, 
while General Hancock, the Chairman, was among 
those persons who might be nominated, the former 
being favoured by the Republican, the latter by the 
Democratic party. There were slight indications 
showing that this was not forgotten by the meeting. 
The calls for " Hartranft " continuing, and that 
General remaining seated, the Chairman rose, and, 
offering his arm conducted him to the foot-lights. 
General Hartranft said that once he had command of 
the front line of battle in the Army of the Potomac, 
under General Meade, and finding that the line was 
suffering from an enfilading fire, he informed his com- 
mander of this. General Meade replied, " The best 
way to get out of an enfilading fire is to go ahead." 
Applying this anecdote, which may not have occurred 
to him on the spur of the moment, to his present 
case, he proceeded to pour forth compliments to his 
old comrades, and gave them the satisfaction which 
they probably desired. This was the end of the 
proceedings, so far as they possessed general in- 
terest. Two things struck me in connexion with 
them. The one was, that, despite references of 
General Dix to the events of a century ago, the 



126 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

memories of the War of Independence seemed to 
have been altogether eclipsed by those of the war 
for the maintenance of the Union ; the other was, 
that such a gathering seemed fitted to make the 
soldier regret that he had become a simple citizen, 
and to foster a desire to resume a career of military 
excitement. 



127 



VII. 

THE PEESS AND THE PEOPLE OF PHILADELPHIA. 

The Daily Advertiser, the first daily newspaper pub- 
lished in the United States, appeared m Philadelphia 
in 1 784. In the year of the founding of the Republic 
four newspapers were published in the State of New 
York, seven in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
and nine in the State of Pennsylvania, All but one 
of the thirty- seven which then instructed the citizens 
of the United States appeared once a week, the ex- 
ception being the Pennsylvania Evening Post, which 
appeared thrice. In the year of the Centenary of 
the Republic the number published in New York 
was 1,088, in Massachusetts 346, and in Penn- 
sylvania 738. At present, the principal Phila- 
delphian newspapers are the Times, the Press, the 
Public Ledger, the North American, the Star, the 
Evening Telegraph, the Sunday Mercury. Only one of 
them merits special notice ; this is the Public Ledger, 
which was founded on the 25th of March, 1836. 

The Public Ledger was the third daily newspaper 
which had been sold in Philadelphia for one cent, 
that is a halfpenny. The first, entitled The Cent, 
which was founded in 1830, did not live long. The 
second, the Daily Transcript, was founded in Sep- 
tember, 1835. The Public Ledger not only dis- 



128 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

tanced its competitors which cost six cents, but 
proved more than a match for most of its low-priced 
rivals. On the 26th of September, it contained the 
following exultant outpouring over the fate of less 
fortunate contemporaries, such as " Tlie Times, that 
had no time to breathe, for it died almost as soon as 
born ; the Morning Post, that posted to its grave as 
rapidly as if it were an express post ; the Transcript, 
that did nothing but transcribe, for it could not 
teach originality, and transcribed nothing worth 
reading ; the Eagle, that seemed more like a screech 
owl, and never got fledged enough to fly ; the Go7n- 
merdal Pilot, that actually ran upon the rocks and 
got shipwrecked in putting to sea ; . . . the Plain 
Truth, that told nothing but lies, as the Commercial 
Herald can testify; the North American, that did 
not live long enough to tell anything."' 

The first number of the Public Ledger, which was 
more vigorously written than any other Philadelphian 
newspaper, attracted an amount of attention which 
betokened future success. Mr. Eussell Jarvis, the 
editor, had that power of pleasing readers and 
making enemies which insures a crop of remunera- 
tive libel suits and a large circulation. In an ad- 
dress to the public he gave Great Britain the credit 
of having an engine of instruction in a Cheap Press 
which other countries might envy ; unless he meant 
by this, such publications as the Penny Magazine, it 
is difl&cult to understand what he could have re- 
ferred to. He too, however, had determined to 
difiuse useful knowledge, to aim at promoting the 
common good, to endeavour after " the moral and 

' Historical Sketch of the Public Ledger in " Proof Sheet " for 
July, 1870. 



THK PRESS AND THE PEOPLE OP PHILADELPHIA. 129 

intellectual improvement of the labouring classes, the 
great sinew of civilized societies," intimating that, 
as a preliminary to attaining these laudable objects, 
he had " secured the services of a Police reporter 
and a Collector of news." Two columns of the 
first number were filled with the material supplied 
by the police reporter, who strove to combine the 
comic writer and the philosopher, to make his 
readers laugh at the ludicrous aspects of vice, and 
to improve their morals by suitable lessons and 
reflections. So earnest and exemplary was the 
" Police reporter " in his vocation that, before the 
newspaper was a week old, the office was attacked 
by persons who broke windows and did other damage 
by way of protest against his pointed remarks. Be- 
fore the Public Ledger was a year old, it had acquired 
the appellation of a " little virulent sheet " from its 
high-priced contemporaries. An action for libel 
soon followed, which emboldened the editor to 
insert spirit-stirring articles in defence of the Liberty 
of the Press, and enabled a sympathetic jury to give 
the paper a good advertisement. Not long after- 
ward, a well-timed denunciation of the intolerable 
behaviour of many medical students, raised the out- 
spoken organ of public opinion high in the estima- 
tion of peaceful citizens. In 1838, the Puhlic 
Ledger spoke out for the right of liberty of thought 
and speech with a boldness which did it honour 
and merited the applause of all true friends of 
freedom. A pro-slavery mob had burned down a 
hall in which an anti-slavery meeting was to have 
been held. An article headed, " Scandalous outrao-e 
against law as well as against decency," condemned 
this outburst of mob violence in fitting terms, say- 

K 



130 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

ing it would be better that thousands of ruffians 
should perish, than " that the great principle of 
freedom of speech and the Press should be sur- 
rendered," and justly maintaining that " if the 
right of discussion upon any subject, a right made 
common to all by our constitution and laws, both 
State and Federal, may be invaded with impunity, 
all freedom among us is abolished, and we are the 
slaves of the very worst of tyrants, the moh.''^ This 
tyrant, not relishing the course of a paper which 
added the virtue of impartiality to its other offences, 
proclaiming the right of both parties to a patient 
and an undisturbed hearing, tried to silence the 
paper by physical force. Preparations made in the 
office to resist the only arguments which a mob can 
use proved effectual ; when this tyrant knows that 
violence will be encountered with armed resistance 
its courage oozes away ; hence the Public Ledger 
office survived the demonstrations made with a view 
to its demolition. 

Six years afterward, the Public Ledger had again 
to face an angry populace, and had to suffer for its 
independence in the most painful of all ways to the 
proprietors of a newspaper, a diminished circula- 
tion. In the year 1844, native-born citizens of the 
United States met in Philadelphia to demonstrate 
what they considered their claim to precedence, over 
those of foreign birth, in governing the country. 
Riots ensued in which blood was shed. Both 
parties were subjected to stinging and deserved 
censure, and neither party thought that justice had 
been done to it. Steering an even course in an en- 
venomed quarrel, condemning mob rule as the worst 
of evils, the conductors of the Public Ledger suffered 



THE PEESS AND THE PEOPLE OF PHILADELPHIA. 131 

the penalty usually reserved for persons who keep 
cool heads during the tempest of popular passion, 
losing subscribers as well as, what is a still heavier 
misfortune to the proprietors of a newspaper, the 
favour of advertisers. After a time, however, the 
dissatisfied subscribers and advertisers found it more 
unpleasant to dispense with the paper, which con- 
tinued to flourish, than it did to subsist without 
their aid. 

In 1844, the Public Ledger was printed on one of 
Hoe's rotary presses, being the first paper so printed. 
Mr. Swain, the founder and proprietor, having been 
struck with Mr. Hoe's scheme for placing type on 
a cylinder, ordered a press before the invention 
had been tested by experience, and thus evinced 
his foresight at a time when printing in this manner 
was scouted by practical printers as an utter ab- 
surdity. Among the advertisements in the first 
number of the Public Ledger was one from Messrs. 
R. Hoe and Co., of New York, offering to supply "any 
article in the line of the printing business of the best 
quahty, and upon the most reasonable terms." 

Several changes, which took place in the pro- 
prietary and management in the course of succeeding 
years, need not be recorded in detail. During the 
civil war, it was found that to sell the paper at one 
cent a copy involved a sacrifice ; owing to the great 
increase in the price of paper and labour, the annual 
loss amounted to upwards of $100,000. In a 
moment of morbid depression, the proprietor deter- 
mined to part with the journal ; on the 3rd of 
December, 1864, it passed into the hands of Mr. G. 
W. Childs. 

Since Benjamin Franklin entered Philadelphia 

K 2 



132 COLUMHTA AND CANADA. 

poor, friendless, and liungrj, no youth more remark- 
able than Mr. Childs has risen to fortune and an 
enviable position there. Born at Baltimore in 1830, 
he entered the United States navy at the age of 
thirteen, thus gratifying the same desire of going 
to sea ■which Franklin entertained, but which his 
father would not countenance, and which would have 
made a sailor of Washington, had not the opposi- 
tion of his widowed mother prevailed. Fifteen 
months' experience of seafaring life determined 
young Childs to embrace a career on land ; going 
to Philadelphia, he obtained employment as shop- 
boy in a bookstore. Before five years passed away 
he had amassed a few hundred dollars, and begun 
business as a publisher ; soon after he took a • 
partner, the style of his firm being Childs and 
Peterson. This firm of publishers achieved a repu- 
tation for producing books of a high class, which 
were not only very popular, but which were most 
profitable to their authors. One of them was Dr. 
Kane's " Arctic Expedition," for which the author 
received S75,000. Another work was Mr. Allibone's 
" Dictionary of Authors," which the compiler dedi- 
cated to Mr. Childs in token of the substantial 
encouragement received from him. 

By becoming proprietor of the Fuhlic Ledger, Mr. 
Childs acquired a property which was erroneously sup- 
posed to be in a critical state. It is far more difficult 
to resuscitate the fallen fortunes of an established 
newspaper than to found a new one, and render it 
remunerative. If the price be reduced with a view to 
attract new subscribers, the result commonly is to 
make a present to the old ones ; if the price be raised 
the old ones fall off, and their places are not easily 



THE PllESS AND THE PEOPLE OF PHILADELPHIA. 133 

filled. As it was impossible to make a profit on the 
selling price of six cents weekly, Mr. Cliilds advanced 
tlie price of the Public Ledger to ten cents, and he also 
charged more for advertisements than his predecessor 
had done. In addition to making advertisers pay- 
higher rates, he subjected their advertisements to 
strict supervision. Before his time the custom had 
been to insert every advertisement which had been 
paid for, provided it was neither clearly libellous nor 
grossly indecent. There are many announcements 
which, though not indecent in words, cannot be 
made public without detriment to public morality, 
and these Mr. Childs refused to print on any terms. 
This self-denying ordinance diminished the annual 
receipts of the Public Ledger, for a time, to the 
extent of $15,000. He also resolved to deal with 
public questions in a temperate tone and serious 
spirit. Though partisanship had not been the failing 
of the paper, yet exaggeration had been one of its 
attractions. This change had a complete, but not an 
immediate success. At first the circulation of the 
paper fell far below what it was before he became its 
proprietor ; gradually, however, his well-considered 
and praiseworthy policy won for it a popularity greater 
than it had ever known. The size had to be enlarged 
in order that space might be found for the advertise- 
ments, which continued to come in like a flood. Not 
many years after the new proprietor had given effect 
to his enlightened views, the quantity of printed mat- 
ter, in each number, covered 1,573 square inches ; the 
quantity in the first number covered 525. Since then 
the size and price have been still farther increased. 

The building, one of the most imposing in Chesnut 
Street, in which the Public Ledger is now written 



134 COLUMBIA A^T) CANADA. 

and edited, printed and published, was finished on 
tlie 20th of June, 18G7. Including the ground, the 
cost was half a million dollars. 

Before 1 visited the office of the Public Ledger 
I was told that nothing like it could be seen in any 
part of the world. I am familiar with the interiors 
of newspaper offices in the United States, Canada, 
the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, so that 
I am able to form a comparison which is founded 
on a large experience. Such offices as those of the 
Neio York Tribune, the Neiv York Herald, the Chicago 
Tribune, are admitted to be among the most notable 
in the United States, while that of the Toronto 
Glube is the finest in Canada. That of the Public 
Ledger is held to outstrip them all, and those in 
other countries besides. There is a little exaggera- 
tion in this. If any one must be selected for pre- 
eminence, that of the leading journal of the British 
Empire must be chosen. The elephant is con- 
sidered a type of skill and sagacity, combined with 
gigantic strength, being able with its trunk to pick 
up a pin or rend an oak, to tend an infant or kill 
a tiger. What this huge and clever beast is among 
animals, the office of tbe Times is among the offices 
of newspapers. Except ink and paper, everything 
employed in the production of a newspaper is made 
there, from the printing-press down to the type. 
Not only are the mechanical details complete in every 
part, many of them being far in advance of those 
in common use elsewhere, but the comfort of the 
writers is considered as well as that of the com- 
positors. The rule is to treat the producers of 
" copy" as persons who can do their work surrounded 
with every discomfort, and to reserve all the con- 



THE PRESS AND THE PKOPLE OF PHILADELPHIA. 135 

veniences for the men who convert the manuscript 
into the printed page ; as in this respect, however, 
the completeness which characterizes the other de- 
partments of the Times office does not fail, I do not 
for a moment fear intelligent contradiction in assign- 
ing to it the first place among establishments of 
the kind. 

Having made the foregoing reservation, I am 
ready to admit that the office of the Public Ledger is 
worthy of the highest praise. Those persons who 
are employed in it think themselves fortunate. They 
number upwards of three hundred. In an address 
presented to Mr. Childs on the 4th of July, 1867, 
they thanked him with patriotic exuberance " for 
having built a palace for them to work in ; a print- 
ing-house which is unparalleled in the world ; a 
printing-office which, in all its departments, is the 
most healthy, comfortable, and spacious on the 
American Continent." With a consideration unique, 
I believe, among employers of labour, Mr. Childs 
insures the lives of his workers, in order that, 
when they die, their families may not be left desti- 
tute ; he has thought of the dead while providing for 
the living, for a Printers' Cemetery has been pre- 
sented by him to the Philadelphia Typographical 
Society. It would be tedious to recount all the good 
deeds with which he is credited. Suffice it to say 
that he ranks among newspaper proprietors as at 
once a millionaire and a philanthropist, and that 
when he employs his wealth for the commemoration 
of a personal liking, he displays as much good taste 
as when he lavishes money in works of benevolence. 
An admirer of the exquisite poets George Herbert 
and William Cowper, he gracefully manifested his 



136 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

appreciation by presenting a stained glass window to 
Westminster Abbey as a homage to their memories. 

The average daily circulation of the Public Ledger 
exceeds 90,000 copies. These copies are distributed 
throughout Philadelphia in a manner alike ingenious 
and novel. More than half of the sale is effected by 
carriers, an arrangement made by the founders of the 
paper. The city is portioned into di^asions, called 
*' routes," and carriers have the start in disposing of 
the Piihlic Ledger within their respective boundaries. 
The carriers, who number 100, are supplied an hour 
in advance of the newsboys ; some sell as many as 
1,600 copies daily, others not more than sixty. The 
profit of the aggregate sales may be imagined 
when it is added that the cash value of their rig^ht 
to dispose of the paper is valued at $300,000. The 
newsboys dispose of about 4,000 copies ; not more 
than 600 are sold at the office, between 4,000 and 
6,000 copies are sent by post to subscribers through- 
out the Union and in foreign parts. 

The independence which characterized the Puhlic 
Ledger when it first became a candidate for public 
favour, has been preserved under the management 
of Mr. Childs. Party questions receive judicial 
treatment in its columns; the New York Nation 
excepted, no journal in the United States is more 
truly a national organ, benefiting mankind with what 
might have been wasted upon party. Yet it is not 
quite perfect; the fastidious reader who has been 
pampered with the large clear type in which the 
best European newspapers are printed, does not find 
this paper much more pleasant to the eye than the 
majority of its contemporaries in the Republic. 
Such a reader might wish that Mr. Childs shared 



THE PEESS AND THE PEOPLE OF PHILADELPHIA. 137 

soine of the views of Mr. W. C. Bryant, and set as 
mucli store upon good writing as he does upon an 
independent and measured tone in the treatment of 
all subjects. If half the energy which is expended 
throughout the United States in filling journals 
with the latest news, were expended in maintaining 
the standard of style and diction, the Press of the 
United States would be the marvel of the world. 

Philadelphians have undergone great, though 
insensible changes, since they were first judged by 
visitors to their city. Before the present century 
began, they had the character of being " extremely 
deficient in hospitality and politeness towards 
strangers." Such is the opinion which, according 
to Mr. Weld, prevailed not among foreigners only, 
but among the inhabitants of other parts of the 
Union also. He adds that " amongst the uppermost 
circles in Philadelphia, pride, haughtiness, and 
ostentation are conspicuous ; and it seems as if 
nothing could make them happier than that an order 
of nobility should be established, by which they might 
be exalted above their fellow-citizens, as much as 
they are in their own conceit. In tlie manners of 
the people in general there is a coldness and reserve, 
as if they were suspicious of some design against 
them, which chills to the heart those who come to 
visit them."^ 

Whatever may have been the case formerly, it is 
no longer true that Philadelphians fall behind their 
fellow-countrymen in entertaining strangers. Even 
Mrs. Trollope and Captain Marryat could not 

^ Isaac Weld's " Travels in North America," vol. i. pp. 21, 22. 



138 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

complain of tliem on that score. The former, how- 
ever, objected to their Puritanism, saying that " the 
rehgious sanctity of Philadelphian manners is in 
nothing more conspicuous than in the number of 
chains thrown across the streets on Sunday to 
prevent horses and carriages from passing." These 
chains no longer impede the trafl&c, nor indeed, 
though church-going is as much in favour here as in 
Boston, is religion made to wear a sterner aspect 
in the city of the Quakers than in the city of the 
Puritans. Captain Marryat was struck with the 
stillness of the streets, and the cleanliness of the 
inhabitants. According to him, " the first idea that 
strikes you when you arrive at Philadelphia, is that 
it is Sunday : everything is so quiet, and there are 
so few people stirring; but by the time you have 
paraded half a dozen streets, you come to a conclusion 
that it must be Saturday, as that is, generally speak- 
ing, a washing-day." Here, again, the change is 
marked. Those persons who arrived at Philadelphia 
in the summer or autumn of 1876, would have 
supposed that they had reached Pandemonium ; nor 
can I believe that, at a less exciting time, a Sabbath 
stillness uniformly pervades the streets. 

Before visiting Philadelphia, I was told that I 
should not enjoy the climate. Certainly, I have 
seldom suffered more from heat than I did whilst 
there. What tries the unacclimatized stranger most 
of all is the sudden variation in the temperature, the 
change within the space of twenty-four hours being 
sometimes from the tropical heat of a hot-house to 
the arctic cold of an ice-house. Dr. Benjamin Eush, a 
physician whose memory is deservedly cherished by 
Philadelphians, gave M. Brissot, in 1788, the fol- 



THE PRESS AND THE PEOrLE OP PHILADELPHIA. 139 

lowing account of the climate there : " We have the 
humidity of Great Britain in spring, the heat of Africa 
in summer, the temperature of Italy in June, the sky 
of Egypt in autumn, the cold and snow of Norway 
and the ice of Holland during winter, the hurricanes 
of the West Indies, to a certain extent, in each 
season, and the changeable winds of Great Britain in 
each month of the year." Notwithstanding this 
extraordinary variety, the Doctor maintained that 
"the climate of Philadelphia is one of the most 
salubrious in the world." ^ I am more surprised at 
the candour of the statement than at the optimism 
of the conclusion. Though medical men are not in 
the habit of advising persons to shun the localities 
in which they practise, yet the unprofessional persons 
who read Dr. Eush's account of the Philadelphian 
climate, may fancy they would live more comfortably 
in other places. 

I do not mean to pronounce a dogmatic opinion 
concerning anything in Philadelphia. My own expe- 
rience was so favourable that I may be biassed in 
my judgment. In common with many other visitors 
during the period of the Exhibition, I was the reci- 
pient of much kindness at the liands of Mr. Rosen- 
garten, one of the leading members of the Bar. His 
house was a centre where all the most notable person- 
ages in the place met together. He introduced me to 
the Reform Club, which deserves a word of praise. In 
all parts of the civilized globe, Club-houses resemble 
each other so closely as to offer nothing which can 
be singled out for description. The Reform Club in 
Philadelphia is an exception. I have seen other 

' " Nouvcau Voyage dans les Etats-Unis," vol. ii. p. 119. 



140 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

buildings of tlie kind wliicli exceed it in size and in 
luxury of accommodation, but I am unacquainted 
with any Club which is equally attractive, not only 
to members, but to their families. There is a large 
space in the rear where flowers grow and a fountain 
plays, and where, twice a week in the summer 
months, an excellent band performs choice pieces 
of music. The members sit here at small tables 
enjoying the sweet smells, the cool air, and cooling 
beverages. Nor do they sit alone, for on these 
evenings they are allowed to bring with them their 
wives, sisters, and daughters. I never met a Phila- 
delphia lady who objected to her husband belonging 
to this Club, nor did I meet any stranger, to whom 
its doors had been thrown open, who failed to 
characterize it as one of the pleasantest places of the 
kind which he had ever entered. The highest praise 
which a sojourner in a strange city can accord to it 
is the expression of his desire to return thither. I 
would gladly revisit Philadelphia. 



141 



VIII. 

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

The District of Columbia, wherein the city of Wash- 
ington is situated, covers an area of GO square miles, 
and originally belonged to the State of Maryland. 
Georgetown is the only other city in the district. 
The census of 1870 showed the population to be 
131,700; the number in 1860 was 60,000. The 
area of the United States, as is well known, is divided 
into 38 States and 10 Territories. Each State sends 
two Senators to Congress, and Representatives in 
proportion to the number of its inhabitants ; one 
Representative was apportioned to every 127,381 
after the census of 1860. In making this calcula- 
tion, the Indians are excluded on the ground that 
they are not taxed. The inhabitants of the District 
of Columbia, however, are taxed, but not represented ; 
they are governed by Congress. It is true that the 
District is small when compared with the areas of 
the several States and Territories, yet there are 
States which send Senators and Representatives, 
and there are Territories which send Delegates to 
Congress, in which the population is much smaller. 
Take the State of Delaware. This was one of the 
Thirteen Colonies which contended for the principle 
that no man should be taxed by an Assembly in 



142 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

whicli he was not directly represented. The Con- 
stitution of the United States empowered Delaware 
to send two Senators and one Representative to 
Congress when the population of the State was much 
smaller than at present, and yet it now contains 
6,685 fewer inhabitants than the District of Columbia. 
In three of the younger States, Nebraska, Nevada, 
and Colorado, the discrepancy is still more remark- 
able ; the first has 8,707, the second 89,209, and the 
last 91,836 fewer inhabitants than the district over 
which Congress exercises supreme authority. Each 
of these States has three votes in the Electoral Col- 
lege which chooses the President : the District of 
Columbia has none. If the Territories are considered, 
the case is more remarkable still. The representa- 
tive system does not exist in a complete form in 
them, yet there is at least a semblance of representa- 
tion. There are Governors nominated by the Pre- 
sident, and Legislative Assemblies elected by the 
people, while Delegates watch over their interests in 
Congress without, however, having votes on divi- 
sions. Out of nine Territories, Alaska not deserving 
to be considered as one for the purpose of compari- 
son or the sake of argument, the total population in 
six of them amounts to 92,506, being 39,194 in the 
whole six Territories less than that of the single Dis- 
trict of Columbia ; yet this District has not even the 
rudiments of independent government possessed by 
the Territory of Wyoming, with its 9,118 inhabi- 
tants, which has been held up as a model, since 
female suffrage has been introduced there. Surely 
if representation and taxation should co-exist, then 
the inhabitants of the District of Columbia are 
either shorn of a right, or afflicted with unjustifiable 



THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 143 

imposts ! Their grievances are as great in principle 
as those of the inhabitants of the Thirteen Colonies 
when they embarked in the struggle for indepen- 
dence. It may be that they prefer the paternal rule 
of Congress to the enjoyment of self-government. 
So long, however, as they are unrepresented in the 
Council of the nation, they occupy an anomalous 
place in a system which is said to ba unrivalled alike 
for harmonious working and symmetrical plan. The 
absence of any complaint may be a proof that the 
inhabitants do not consider themselves aggrieved. 
Though they are without representation in Congress, 
they may deem taxation to be no tyranny. But the 
more contented they are with their state, the stronger 
is the argument in favour of Congress exercising a 
jurisdiction over citizens who are deprived of those 
safeguards against arbitrary power which are deemed 
an essential element in the Constitution of the 
North American Republic. When United States 
critics ridicule anomalies in the representative system 
of the United Kingdom, they may fairly be asked to 
look at the District of Columbia as an example of an 
anomaly in their own favoured land, which does not 
seem to be productive of injury in practice although 
it is indefensible in theory. 

It was not till after much heartburning and con- 
troversy that the present site of the national capital 
was fixed upon. The Northern members were ap- 
prehensive lest the seat of Government should be 
placed so far south as to be subjected to southern 
influences, whilst the Southern members were strongly 
opposed to the capital being too remote from the 
place of their residence and power. The selection 
of the site was the result of a compromise in which 



144 rnLuiFBTA and canada. 

"Washington played an important part. He took 
special interest in laying out the city which he 
thought should be called the " Federal City," but 
which the people held ought to bear his name. The 
compliment was well meant, but its value is doubtful. 
There is a possibility of confusion in speaking of 
Washington. It might be said that Washington 
was pure and that Washington was corrupt without 
a contradiction in fact, though the contradiction 
would be complete if the explanation were not given 
that the one statement had reference to the patriot, 
the other to the city. Perhaps it is fortunate for 
the memory of the great Protector that no important 
city has been named Cromwx41, and it maybe equally 
a matter for satisfaction that the names of the 
principal cities of the civilized world are impersonal. 
The Fathers of the Republic would have displayed 
greater wisdom had they determined upon making 
Philadelphia, New York, or Boston the capital of 
the Union. No great capital has been the product 
of legislation. Edinburgh, Dublin, London, Paris, 
Vienna, Berlin, Rome, have become the capitals of 
Scotland, Ireland, England, France, Austria, Ger- 
many, Italy, by a process resembling that natural 
selection which Dr. Darwin, Mr. Herbert Spencer, 
and Professor Huxley hold to be a natural law. A 
legislator might have thought that he could easily 
make a more suitable choice in each case, just as a 
rash dogmatist would aver that, had the creation 
of the world been left to him, the result would have 
given general satisfaction. He means by this that 
the arrangement Avould have pleased him much better, 
and it would doubtless have been in more complete 
accord with liis poi-soiial notions and requirements. 



THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 145 

The legislators of the United States have acted on 
the supposition that a central site must always be 
the best one for a capital; the result has been 
curious rather than commendable. Beyond all ques- 
tion the cliief city of the State of New York bears 
the name of the State, yet the far less notable city 
of Albany is the capital. Philadelphia has a much 
stronger historic claim to be the capital of Penn- 
sylvania than Harrisburg. Everybody knows that 
Charleston is the principal city in South Carolina; 
the actual capital is Columbia ; a minor Charles- 
town, unknown to fame, is the capital of West 
Virginia. In Ohio, there is no larger and more 
important city than Cincinnati ; in Illinois, there is 
none that can compare with Chicago ; in Missouri, 
the pre-eminence of St. Louis is undoubted; in 
California, the city of San Francisco has no rival; 
in Maryland, no place can match Baltimore ; in 
Maine, there is no equal to Portland ; yet Columbus 
is the capital of Ohio, Springfield of Illinois, Jeffer- 
son City of Missouri, Sacramento of California, 
Annapolis of Maryland, Augusta of Maine. Ehode 
Island, which has the smallest area of any state in 
the Union, has two capitals, Newport and Provi- 
dence. Owing to its situation and importance New 
Orleans ought always to have been the capital of 
Louisiana ; till the civil war that distinction was 
enjoyed by Baton Rouge. Richmond, the capital of 
Virginia, and Boston, the capital of the great com- 
monwealth of Massachusetts Bay, have been allowed 
to retain their natural pre-eminence. The chances, 
however, are against the city of importance being per- 
mitted to occupy the rank of a capital, and it is a 
subject of wonder why New Orleans, Richn-!0Ti.'\. and 

L 



146 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

Boston have not shared the fate of San Francisco, New- 
York, and Philadelphia. If, by chance, a rising city 
should happen to be the capital of a new State it will 
soon cease to hold that place of honour. The State 
of Nebraska is among the later additions to the Union. 
Its principal town is Omaha, which at one time 
ranked as the capital. The citizens determined, 
however, upon a change which deprived Omaha of 
its titular importance without lessening its power 
of growth, and they made Lincoln, a much smaller 
and less notable town, the State capital. 



147 



IX. 

THE CAPITAL OF THE UNION. 

In 1815, Mr. Ticknor, the historian of Spanish 
literature, visited the capital of his country for the 
first time. Not long before this date, the public 
buildings had been burned to the ground by order 
of General Ross, in command of a British force, an 
act for which the pretext was no justification, and 
one which it is impossible to excuse by urging 
that this barbarous warfare had been previously 
waged in Canada, by the forces of the Union, 
in obedience to direct and deliberate instructions 
from the United States Government. As the 
carriage in which Mr. Ticknor made the journey 
from Baltimore approached the city of Washington, 
his heart swelled with patriotic enthusiasm, and he 
eagerly prepared himself to enjoy the prospect. 
Having reached the midst of a desolate-looking 
plain, over which vehicles were passing in all 
directions, he said to the driver of his carriage, 
"Where are we now?" The reply was " ' In the 
Maryland Avenue, Sir.' He had hardly spoken 
when the hill of the Capitol rose before us. I had 
been told that it was an imperfect, unfinished 
work, and that it was somewhat unwieldy in its best 
estate. I knew that it was now a ruin, but I had 

L 2 



148 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

formed no conception of what I was to see — the 
desolate and forsaken greatness in which it stood, 
without a building near it, except a pile of bricks 
on its left more gloomy tlian itself, and the ruins 
of the house from which General Ross was fired at ; 
no, not even a hill to soften the distant horizon 
behind it, or a fence or a smoke to give it 
the cheerful appearance of a human habitation." ^ 
Fifteen years before Mr. Ticknor's visit, Tom Moore 
had been at Washington, and had written the lines 
in an epistle to Dr. Hume which gave great offence 
in the United States : — 

" This famed metropolis where fancy sees 
Squares in morasses, obelisks in trees ; 
Which travelling fools and gazetteers adorn 
With shrines unbuilt and heroes yet unborn," 

Mr. Weld, describing this city in 1796, says 
that, " excepting the streets and avenues, and a 
small part of the ground adjoining the public build- 
ings, the whole place is covered with trees. To be 
under the necessity of going through a deep wood 
for one or two • miles, perhaps, in order to see a 
next-door neighbour and in the same city, is a 
curious, and I believe, a novel circumstance." ^ Forty 
years later. Captain Hamilton describing his journey 
from Baltimore to AVashington, says : " I was look- 
ing from the windows of the coach, in a sort of 
brown study, at fields covered with snow, when 
one of my fellow-passengers inquired how I liked 
Washington. ' I will tell you when I see it,' was 
my reply. ' Why you have been in Washington for 

' " Memoirs of George Ticknor," vol. i p. 2i. 
' Isaac Weld's " Travels," vol. i. p. 86. 



THE CAPITAL OF THE UNION. 149 

the last quarter of an hour,' rejoined my fellow- 
traveller. And so it was ; yet nothing could I 
discern but a miserable cottage or two occasionally 
skirtinof the road at wide intervals." ^ Miss Mar- 
tineau, who was there in 1835, depicts it in terms 
scarcely more attractive than those used by any pre- 
ceding visitor. According to her, " the city itself is 
unlike any other that ever was seen — straggling out 
hither and thither, with a small house or two, a quarter 
of a mile from any other ; so that in making calls ' in 
the city,' we had to cross ditches and stiles, and 
walk alternately on grass and pavements, and strike 
across a field to reach a street." * Among the 
changes wrought during a few years in the United 
States none has been more striking than that which 
concerns the exterior aspect of the city of Washing- 
ton. Whoever reads what was written about it by 
the travellers whose remarks I have quoted, and 
looks on the city as it now exists, will have great 
difficulty in believing that the place before his eyes, 
and that about which he has read, are the same. 

The foundation of the city of Washington dates 
from the year 1791; in the year 1793, the foun- 
dation-stone of the Capitol was laid by the first 
and greatest President of the Republic. The 
building of the city went on slowly for a time. 
In 1792, fruitless endeavours were made to induce 
workmen to come from Scotland. The Presi- 
dent suggested that an application should be made 
to Holland and France ; he thought that the 
intestine commotion in the latter country would 
induce many persons to desire to better their 

^ " Men and Manners in America," vol. ii. p. 23. 
* " Hetrospeet of Western Travel," vol. i. p. 237. 



150 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

condition by crossing the Atlantic, and labour in 
erecting tlie capital ; he was anxious that there should 
be no delay in prosecuting the necessary operations, 
in order that the declared enemies of the scheme 
might be checkmated. 

In 1793, Washington wrote to the great English 
agriculturist, Arthur Young, telling him, among 
other things, that — " The Federal City in the year 
1800 will become the seat of the General Government 
of the United States. It is fast increasing in build- 
ings and rising in consequence, and will, I have no 
doubt, from the advantages given to it by nature, 
and its proximity to a rich interior country and the 
Western territory, become the emporium of the 
United States." Three years afterwards, he used 
almost identical terms about the Federal City in a 
letter to Sir John Sinclair, who then seems to have 
contemplated emigrating to the United States, and 
who applied to Washington for particulars about the 
land in the neighbourhood of his property. Jefferson 
proposed in 1795 that a University should be 
established here, in which the teaching staff should 
consistof the professors who had been obliged to leave 
Geneva owing to the revolution ; but Washington 
did not favour the settlement of so many foreigners 
in a national institution. The last noteworthy 
mention of a city, which was often in his thoughts, 
and for which he did more than any other man, 
occurs in a letter written in 1798, eighteen months 
before his death. It was addressed to Mrs. Fairfax, 
who had formerly been one of his neighbours at Mount 
Vernon, but who was then living in England. After 
telling her of various changes which had occurred, 
he says — " A century hence, if this country keeps 



THE CAPITAL OF THE UNION. 151 

united (and it is surely its policy and interest to do 
it), will produce a city, though not as large as 
London, yet of a magnitude inferior to few others 
in Europe, on the banks of the Potomac, where one 
is now establishing for the permanent seat of 
the Government of the United States, between 
Alexandria and Georgetown, on the Maryland side of 
the river ; a situation not excelled for commanding 
prospect, good water, salubrious air, safe harbours, 
by any in the world, and where elegant buildings are 
erecting and in forwardness for the reception of 
Congress in the year 1800." He died a fortnight 
before the beginning of the year in which his favourite 
city became the actual capital of his country. 

By the time that the city of Washington shall be a 
century old, the dream of its founder may be as far 
from realization as it is at present. Two-thirds of 
the period have passed away ; yet the city is still 
surpassed by many capitals in Europe, not in 
magnitude only, but also in all those attractions which 
make cities famous. The population chiefly consists 
of foreign Ministers and their suites, and of office- 
holders, office-seekers, and lobbyists. The harbour 
is safe enough, but there is no commerce; the 
situation is excellent, but there are few manufactures. 
If life and manners in New York are not typical of 
what prevails throughout the United States, still 
less typical are life and manners in Washington. It 
is the capital of the country ; but in no sense is it a 
representative city. In Paris, Brussels, Berlin, 
Vienna, Rome, and London, even when the 
Legislatures are not sitting, there is plenty to 
interest and instruct a stranger. In Washington, 
when Congress has adjourned, there is the stagnation 



152 COLUMBIA AND (JAXADA. 

of a watering-place when the summer visitors have 
departed and gloomy winter has arrived. A visitor 
to the United States could spend many months most 
profitably in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, 
in the older cities of the South, or the younger cities 
of the West ; but he could learn little if he were to 
pass the same time in Washington. After he had 
visited the Capitol, the public ofiices, the Corcoran 
Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, he would 
have beheld nearly everything worth seeing. As for 
society, no one maintains that those who are 
fastidious or cultured ought to choose Washington 
as their place of abode. People who go thither do 
so for business only; no one, from the Chief 
Justice to the humblest Government clerk, has ever 
professed to reside there for pleasure. A fi^iend of 
mine, who is a citizen of the United States, once 
spent a winter in Washington for the purpose of 
studying in one of the libraries. His companions at 
the hotel displayed curiosity as to his doings, and 
they asked him how his Bill was getting on. They 
thought that he must be interested either in pro- 
moting or opposing a Bill in Congress. On being 
told that he had nothing to do mth legislation, they 
first treated this as a transparent joke; on being 
assured again that they were mistaken, they treated 
him as a harmless lunatic. 

Human interest centres here in two buildings, 
both of which are in Pennsylvania Avenue, and which 
are upwards of a mile distant from each other, the 
Capitol and the White House; the seat of Congress 
and the Supreme Court, and the abode of the 
President. The dome of the Capitol is as con- 
spicuous an object from the surrounding country as 



THE CAPITAL OF THE UNION. 153 

the dome of St. Peter's is from tlie Campagna. It 
has long ceased to be the unsightly ruin which 
produced so painful an impression upon Mr. Ticknor. 
Regarded as a mere architectural pile it is 
grandiose ; but it wants that symmetry of form and 
mao^ic of desisrn which make St. Peter's a thino- of 
beauty. No architect will ever gaze upon it in order 
to gain inspiration and qualify himself to become a 
master of his profession. There is as little originality 
in its form as there is in that of the two Houses of 
Parliament upon the bank of the Thames. The sum 
expended upon it was not far short of four millions 
sterling. The result is a huge dome crowning a 
structure which might have been planned by an 
intelligent bricklayer. It would be strange, indeed, 
if the building possessed unity of design, seeing that 
its present appearance is very different from that of 
the original plan. Two wings were added in 1851 
to the edifice of which Washington laid the founda- 
tion-stone in 1793. If any architect in our day 
were to design two wings for St. Peter's or St. Paul's, 
for Notre Dame or Westminster Abbey, he would 
probably fail in adding to the artistic effect of any 
of them. But the citizens of the United States are 
pleased with their Capitol, they say that it is one of 
the most magnificent public buildings in the world ; 
other persons have not, perhaps, any right to com- 
plain. In the interior, there is more to excite 
surprise than admiration. The Rotunda is decorated 
with pictures, and provided with gigantic spittoons. 
Judging from the condition of the floor, I should 
infer that the latter are supposed to be intended for 
ornament rather than use. The pictures are large 
in size and brilliant in colour. They are eight in 



154 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

number, and represent — " The Discovery of the 
Mississippi," "The Baptism of Pocohontas," "The 
Declaration of Independence," " The SmTcnder of 
General Burgoyne," " The Surrender of Lord Corn- 
wallis," " General Washington resigning his Com- 
mission," " The Embarkation of the Pilgrims." No 
more difficult task can be undertaken by a painter 
than the production of a historical picture in which 
the requirements of patriotism are reconciled to the 
exigencies of art. These works are the production 
of native artists who were doubtless excellent patriots. 
I shall refrain from criticism; any unfavourable 
observations by a stranger would assuredly be 
regarded as splenetic. The effect produced on me 
by these pictures was probably the reverse of that 
contemplated by their painters. The story of De 
Soto's discovering the Mississippi is one which ought 
to inspire an artist. That adventurer started off, at 
the head of a finely-equipped force, to conquer and 
colonize Florida, and discover gold-mines there. He 
succeeded in slaying Indians by the score, but never 
found the gold which he sought. His quest was 
prolonged for two years. Before that time had 
elapsed, he lost many of his comrades by disease and 
in battle. On one occasion, they were nearly over- 
powered by the Indians, who attacked them during 
the night, and they escaped with their lives only. 
They had to fashion garments to cover their naked- 
ness, and rude weapons wherewith to fight. Several 
months afterwards, they discovered the Mississippi. 
They cannot have presented a holiday spectacle 
when they reached the bank of the Father of Waters, 
yet, in the picture here, their arms are as bright, and 
their attire is as spotless as if they had decked 



THE CAPITAL OF THE UNION. 155 

themselves out for a tournament, and were about to 
enter the lists under the eyes of the Queen of 
Beauty. 

The Chamber in which the Kepresentatives meet 
is arranged in a different way from that of our 
House of Commons. Each member has his own 
desk as well as his seat, and these are ranged in rows 
in a semicircle in front of the Speaker's chair. The 
seats are appropriated by lot, so that members of 
opposite parties may sit side by side, while members 
of the same party may be separated by the whole 
width of the chamber, round which there is a gallery 
that accommodates 1,200 spectators. The decorations 
are gaudy. The dimensions of the chamber are 139 
feet in length, 93 feet in width, and 30 feet in height. 
The Senate Chamber, which is arranged in the same 
way, is rather smaller. It is decorated in a more 
subdued style, and in better taste. The other rooms 
are well arranged, and seem far more comfortable 
than those which correspond to them in our Houses 
of Parliament. The sittings of the Supreme Court 
are held in a room under this roof. The Justices 
wear gowns, a distinction which does not prevail 
in other Courts; the members of the Bar and 
Bench are undistinguishable from the audience in 
the ordinary Courts of the United States. I would 
not maintain that Justice cannot be administered by 
men in plain clothes as well as by men in ofiicial 
robes, any more than I would maintain that soldiers 
could not fight unless they were attired in uni- 
form. Consequently, the absence of wigs and gowns 
in a United States Court of Justice did not seem to 
me of much importance ; yet, just as I see no harm, 
but some advantage in a soldier wearing a uniform, 



156 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

SO do I think that a distmctive costume for the 
Bench and the Bar is in keeping with the legal 
profession. The exception of the Justices of the 
Supreme Court in the United States wearing gowns, 
while the Judges in other Courts wear none, is 
the reverse of the rule which prevails at home. The 
two highest Courts in the United Kingdom are the 
House of Lords and the Privy Council. The former 
hears appeals from the principal Courts in the land, 
the latter from those in the Empire, yet the Judges 
in both wear their ordinary clothes, without the addi- 
tion of the wigs and gowns, which are held to be in- 
dispensable in all other Courts, with the exception of 
those over which Police Magistrates preside. Thus 
extremes meet, and the Law Lords, or the members 
of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, deter- 
mine moot points of the highest moment in the 
simple attire of Police Magistrates. There is as 
little novelty, then, in the judges of all Courts but 
the Supreme Court of the United States dispensing 
justice without robes of office, as there is in those of 
the latter Court in wearing them. 

The visitor to the Capitol soon tires of the interior, 
nor does a sight of the large Congressional library 
dispel his fatigue. The interest in seeing rows of 
shelves filled with books is not greater than that of 
seeinor rows of shelves filled with bottles. Thouo-h 
the books may be priceless, and the wine in the bottles 
of the rarest vintage, yet this gives no solace to the 
mere spectator. During one of Southey's visits to 
London, he visited the British Museum Library and 
was astounded at its size. He expressed his thank- 
fulness, however, that his abode was at Keswick 



THE CAPITAL OF THE UNION. 157 

instead of being in or near Great Russell Street, 
Bloomsbury, because he felt that he should go mad 
to think that so many books were within his reach 
and that he could not possibly read them all. I do 
not know whether Members of Cono-ross are ever 
afflicted with a like misgiving ; certainly, they have 
access to a library which would daunt or satiate the 
most inveterate bookworm. Members of Confess 
are chargeable, not with reading, but with speaking to 
excess ; their speeches seldom display a profound 
acquaintance with what other people have devoted 
their lives to writing. 

The part of the Capitol which pleased me the best 
was the gallery outside the dome. The dome is of 
iron, and there is an inner and an outer shell, be- 
tween which a spiral stair leads to the top. On the 
way up the visitor gets a good view of the frescoes, 
by Constantino Brumidi, which are under the canopy, 
which cover 6,000 square feet, and were executed 
within ten months. Having taken a long look at the 
frescoes, and failed to perceive anything which could 
be spoken of in tones flattering to the artist and his 
admirers, I continued my ascent. The view from 
the outside is very different from any picture which 
the dome covers. The city itself, with its broad 
avenues, massy piles of building, its gardens and 
ornamental grounds, is a sight of which the eye does 
not weary. In the background are the wooded 
heights of Arlington, at the bottom of which the 
slow, broad waters of the Potomac flow along. 
The long bridge, a mile in length, spans the river, 
which in its course to the sea passes the old town of 
Alexandria, once a busy place of commerce when 
ships plied between it and Bristol, bringing goods 



loo COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

for the Virginian planters, and carrying back their 
tobacco in exchange. The whole prospect is the 
more pleasing because the country has a more culti- 
vated aspect than is common in this vast territory. 
The remembrance of another view recurred to my 
mind as I stood here. From the tower of the State 
House of Salt Lake City I had looked upon a 
scene like this one. There, too, were clusters of 
buildings along wide streets; the buildings were 
surrounded with gardens, and the streets were lined 
with trees. The scene, however, was grander than 
that I now gazed upon. The Jordan and the Salt 
Lake took the place of the Potomac, while the Wah- 
satch mountains rose skyward with bolder outlines 
than the wooded hills of Virginia. Alike in the 
capital of the Territory of Utah and the capital of the 
United States the greatest enjoyment is afforded by 
the view from the loftiest buildings. Both are plea- 
santer to look at than to live in. 

The White House, which is said to have been de- 
signed by Mr. James Hoban after the mansion of the 
Diike of Leinster, attracts as many visitors as the 
Capitol ; but, were it not the residence of the Presi- 
dent, few would bestow a second glance upon it. The 
reception-rooms are spacious, yet they seem petty to 
those persons who have visited Buckingham Palace 
and Windsor Castle, the Palace of Versailles, the 
Palaces of Berlin, Potsdam, or Babelsberg. Even 
old Holyrood House, though not on the scale of 
many royal dwellings, has far finer rooms than the 
Executive Mansion ; while the Prince of Monaco, 
who rules over 2,000 persons, is housed in a palace 
compared with which the official residence of the 
President of the United States sinks into insignifi- 



THE CAPITAL OF THE UNION. 159 

cance. The private rooms in the White House 
are few in number ; indeed, a President with a 
large family would be sadly stinted for accommo- 
dation. Nevertheless the White House has a fasci- 
nation which the most splendid mansion in the 
United States does not exercise ; a tenant is never 
eager to leave it for another place of abode. No 
stranger has any difficulty in obtaining the satis- 
faction of shaking hands with the President, a plea- 
sure hardly more substantial than that of being pre- 
sented, and making a bow to a crowned head. Those 
persons who had any claim to more than a formal 
reception found it easy to obtain an interview with 
President Grant, and they were certain to be received 
by him with a courtesy which few crowned heads 
would display. Photographs do injustice to his 
appearance. A quiet smile, which frequently occurs 
in conversation, softens the features which seem 
stern in repose. His voice is soft, he speaks slowly, 
and, when interested in any topic, he is the reverse 
of taciturn. I can well believe that those with whom 
he is intimate consider him a genial companion. 

If the Capitol and the White House are the two 
principal places in Washington, the Patent Office is 
the most remarkable, and, in many respects, the most 
attractive spot in this city of Public Offices. Here 
may be seen what is alike typical of the United 
States and highly creditable to them. The building 
is largely composed of white marble. The rooms 
are vast, one being a quarter of a mile in length, 
and they are well planned for the purpose which they 
subserve. This spacious edifice cannot be contrasted 
witb the Patent Office in London without a feeling of 
humiliation. 



160 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

There are many other buildings of note in Wash- 
ington ; those which I have described alone possess 
general interest. There are several monuments ; 
among others there is one which has become a ruin 
before completion ; it was designed to surpass any 
monument in the world, and to commemorate the 
great deeds of George Washington. Congress re- 
cently passed an Act providing, for its completion, 
but he must be a sanguine man who expects to live 
till it is finished. 

The anticipations of the founders of this city have 
not yet been fulfilled ; there is no likelihood that they 
will ever become realities. Washington Avas not sin- 
gular in predicting a grand future for the capital 
which bears his name. Mr. Weld, who visited the 
United States in 171)5, writes: " There is good found- 
ation for thinking that the Federal City, as soon as 
the navigation is perfected, will increase most rapidly, 
and that at a future day, if the affairs of the United 
States go on as prosperously as they have done, it will 
become the Grand Emporium of the West, and rival 
in magnitude and splendour the cities of the old 
world." ^ Miss Martineau, who was at Washington 
in 1835, when time had been afforded for some indi- 
cation of the result which had been foretold and 
hoped for, saw no token of it ; hence her conclusion : 
" The city is a grand mistake. Its only attraction is 
its being the seat of Government ; and it is thought 
that it will not long continue to be so. The Far 
Western States begin to demand a more central seat 
for Congress ; and the Cincinnati people are already 
speculating upon which of their new hills or table- 

* Isaac Weld's " Travels." vol. i. p. SO. 



THE DISTRICT OF COLQMBIA. IGl 

lands is to be the site of the new CapitaL" ^ Though 
Washington stands where it did, and the hopes of 
the people of Cincinnati have been so long deferred 
as to appear vain as well as unsatisfying, yet the 
feeling in favour of removing the Capital has not 
died out. St. Louis thinks its title superior to that 
of Cincinnati, and Omaha urges that its situation has 
the undeniable merit of being the most central of 
all the places suggested. Happily, I have not to 
arbitrate between contending claims, or to point out 
the spot which seems best adapted for the purpose. 
These are matters about which there will be a pro- 
longed and an envenomed controversy. It is quite 
possible, however, that before a second century 
shall have been added to the age of the Kepublic, the 
city of Washington will have ceased to be the Capital 
of the Union. 

« " Retrospect of Western Travel," vol. i. p. 266. 



102 



X. 

THE CAPITAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

The Oriental potentate who fancied tliat Germany- 
was near Leipzig would not have given serious 
offence to the inhabitants of Boston had he also 
arrived at the conclusion that the United States of 
America are somewhere in the neighbourhood of 
their city. The fellow-countrymen of the good 
folks of Massachusetts are wont to ridicule them 
for thinking that the universe revolves round the 
capital of their State. Bostonians certainly have a 
high opinion of themselves and take pride in their 
city, and they have sufficient reason, for so thinking 
and feeling. No other capital in the United States 
dates from the year 1630. It is true that other 
cities are still older. St. Augustine, in Florida, was 
founded by the Spaniards nearly half a century 
before the first English settlement was established 
in Virginia and the city of Jamestown was built. 
The old capital of Virginia is now a shapeless ruin. 
Sixteen years before Governor Winthrop built the first 
house on the peninsula whereon Boston stands, the 
Dutch had founded New Amsterdam on the island 
of Manhattan, a city which is now better known as 
New York. The Pilgrim Fathers founded Plymouth 
ten years before the Puritans sailed for Massachu- 



CAPITAL OK THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 163 

setts, yet, thougli this place like Charlestown is older 
than Boston, botli failed to make the same progress 
or to attain the commanding position which she did, 
for Plymouth, along with the settlement of New 
Plymouth whereof she was the capital, has been in- 
corporated with Massachusetts, while Charlestown 
has become an integral part of the city of Boston. 
Thus the latter city ran boast alike of an antiquitj^ 
exceeding two centuries and a quarter, and of a 
never-ceasing growth in opulence and power. 

If the project of celebrating the Centenary of the 
Eepublic by an International Exhibition had not 
originated in Philadelphia, many reasons might have 
been urged why a space in Boston should be the site 
of the Exhibition. While the former city contains 
the Hall where the Independence of the Colonies 
was declared, the latter contains the Hall where 
the cradle of Liberty was rocked. The whole 
history of Massachusetts is a declaration of inde- 
pendence. The original settlers were ready to 
acknowledge the duty of the Motherland to protect 
them, and they were confident as to their right to 
do what seemed best in their own eyes. It is quite 
possible, however, that their descendants might have 
been so humoured as to have acquiesced in remain- 
ing partners in the British Empire. Had they been 
permitted to trade with foreign powers and to carry 
on home manufactures as freely as those persons who 
are now proud of belonging to that Empire, it is not 
improbable that they would have set less store upon 
absolute separation, and would have turned deaf 
ears alike to the inflammatory sermons of the Rev. 
Jonathan Mayhew and the envenomed speeches of 
Mr. Samuel Adams. But the desire to be inde- 

M 2 



1G4 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

pendent which led the early settlers to treat the 
land as their freehold, and to expel from it all who 
threatened to interfere with their claim to absolute 
possession and control, whether this took the form 
of protests from Roger Williams, of prophecies by 
Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, of witness borne by irre- 
pressible Quakers, never ceased to be potential, even 
when it appeared to be merely a tradition, and was 
revived rather than created when the imposition of 
the Stamp Act gave an excuse for its manifestation 
in riots, when the demand to obey Writs of Assist- 
ance and to pay a duty on tea gave a warrant for 
Otis protesting in impassioned language against 
domestic interference, and the Mohawks an oppor- 
tunity to exhibit the popular determination by 
casting the cargoes of the tea-ships into the water, 
and when it finally nerved the inhabitants to resist 
the Royal forces with the sword till they were forced 
to evacuate the city in dismay. No other city in 
the United States incarnates the principle of inde- 
pendent authority more completely than Boston. 
Few other cities in the world have shown more con- 
clusively how to deal with traitors than she has 
done. When the struggle for the independence of 
the Thirteen Colonies had been crowned with the 
desired success, men whom we should now style 
Communists banded themselves toofether under 
Daniel Shays, fighting for an idea as others did in 
the capital of France under Dombrowski. But the 
citizens of Massachusetts made quick work with the 
enemies of all order, risking their lives to suppress 
a dano-erous insurrection, and actino: with a vio^our 
which would have been followed by a similar and 
speedy triumph had the friends of order, who formed 



CAPITAL OF THE COMMONWEALTE OP MASSACHUSETTS. 165 

the majority in the ranks of the Parisian National 
Guard, been equally alert and brave. During the 
great civil war, which imperilled the unity of the 
country, an attempt was made to raise the standard 
of revolt in Boston ; but a few whiffs of cannon- 
shot swept away alike the ringleaders and their 
cause. So long as the people of this city retain the 
virtues of their forefathers, it will be easy for the 
least-informed person to point to one place where 
the people can both govern themselves admirably, 
and serve as a model to those persons who are 
anxious to discover the maximum of liberty united 
with the maximum of good government. 

A year before the Republic celebrated the cente- 
nary of its existence, the city of Boston celebrated 
the battle which, though a British victory, yet con- 
tributed in no small degree to convert colonial 
independence from a theory into a fact. That fight, 
to which the name of Bunker Hill is commonly but 
inaccurately given, was regarded on its hundredth 
anniversary less as a national struggle against a 
common foe than as a happy opportunity for testify- 
iuQf that the memories of a later and bloodier fratri- 
cidal contest had been purged of ill-will, and that 
the time had come for Northerners and Southerners 
again to join hands as brethren. 

On the 17th of March, 1876, nearly two months 
before the opening of the Exhibition at Philadelphia, 
the forced evacuation of the city by the troops of 
Great Britain and Ireland a hundred years pre- 
viously was celebrated in a hearty, yet most credit- 
able manner. The historic spots were decorated 
with flags by day and lit up with lamps by night. 
A large gathering of the citizens assembled in the 



1C6 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

Music Hall to liear the story of the siege and evacua- 
tion told by the Rev. Dr. Ellis. The Governor and 
the Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, the 
members of the Legislature and the City Council, 
the Mayor and the Justices of the Supreme Judicial 
Court were among the audience. The Rev. Dr. 
Manning, who opened the proceedings with prayer, 
after thanking God for the great deliverance they 
had met to celebrate, added, " We thank Thee that 
the Mother country, that Old England whose op- 
pressions provoked our fathers to take up arms 
against her, is to-day our firm friend and ally among 
the nations of the earth; and that the mother and 
daughter are united in efforts to maintain a spirit 
of peace and goodwill between themselves, and to 
extend the blessings of a Christian civilization 
throughout the world." The Mayor, who followed 
with a speech, after recalling how the Bunker Hill 
celebration had tended to cement amity, went on to 
say, — " In a like spu^it we will celebrate this anni- 
versary of the evacuation, hoping, amid the grateful 
and patriotic memories that cluster about the occa- 
sion, to strengthen still further the bonds of concord 
between the lately hostile sections of the country, 
and also the relations of cordial amity between the 
revolted colonies and the Mother country — foes a 
hundred years ago, but friends to-day by CA'^ery 
motive of mutual interest and every sentiment of 
inship, and every generous hope for the world's 
peace and the progress of humanity." 

In the oration delivered by the Rev. Dr. Ellis, the 
story of the siege was told with great effect. When 
he came to narrate some of the succeeding events, 
such as the proclamation of the Declaration of Inde- 



CAPITAL OP THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 167 

pendence, Dr. Ellis described how, on the following 
day, the emblems of royalty were removed from the 
public places. One of these, the oaken tablet on 
which the royal arms were carved, and which was 
affixed to the Province House, the official residence 
of His Majesty's Governor, had been preserved, and 
it was shown to the audience by Dr. Ellis, who 
remarked, " I have not brought this royal memorial 
tablet here and put it to this use to-day with any 
intent to do it slight or dishonour, but as a valued 
relic, suggestive of days and relations long past. I 
do not forget, but rather tenderly remember, that 
the Queenly Lady who now bears that proud 
escutcheon, with her lamented Prince Consort, 
restrained her royal power from any other exercise 
than that of a noble and generous sympathy during 
the distractions of our sad civil conflict. I saw the 
crown placed upon her head on her coronation day 
in Westminster Abbey, and have loved ever since to 
trace her serene course of dignity and fidelity as a 
wife, mother, and Queen of her magnificent empire. 
And if our story to-day has dealt harshly with one 
who filled the throne before her, let us not close it 
without the expression of our profoundest homage 
and respect to Queen Victoria, not our Sovereign — • 
except that, as the highest lady in the world, she 
should be such to all men — but as our ally and our 
friend." The foregoing passages prove that on a 
great historical occasion the people of Massachusetts 
can display an attitude which demonstrates their 
own worthiness. Alike in the revolutionary and in 
the civil conflict they exhibited their heroism on the 
battle-field ; they have shown themselves to be as 
capable and praiseworthy in peace as in war. When 



168 COIiUMBIA AND CANADA. 

Soiitliern fire-eaters determined in 1812 to enter 
into hostilities with the United Kingdom for an 
object which, when the treaty of peace was signed 
at Ghent in 1814, was not even mentioned in the 
articles, and which really meant the subjugation and 
annexation of Canada by force of arms, the chief 
States in New England declined the summons to 
call out their militia, and, while the shipping in the 
harbour of Baltimore was gay with flags upon war 
being declared, the shipping in the harbour of 
Jioston hoisted its colours half-mast high in token 
of mourning. It is sufficient to read the solemn 
protest which the General Court of Massachusetts 
addressed to Congress, to understand the iniquitous 
character of that war. 

In New England, it is not the rule to manifest 
rancour and malice towards this country. Many 
reasons might be given for this, yet the fundamental 
cause could not be set forth more succinctly than 
was done by Mr. Ticknor when writing to Miss 
Edge worth in 1844. His views, which were the 
result of ample knowledge, were those of an ardent 
patriot. After having seen nearly every person and 
place of note in Europe, he still thought that there 
was no spot in the world like Boston, and no people 
superior to his countrymen. He thus wrote in the 
letter referred to : — " We are still children of Old 
England; and if we were not, we should still be 
doing substantially the same things, for we are all 
of us children of one family ; connected by original 
qualities which will never permit us to get very far 
apart, even if we try." This substantial identity of 
race does not, however, exclude great diversity of 
action and thought. All water is composed of 



CAPITAL OF THE COMMONWEi^LTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 169 

oxygen and hydrogen, yet the strata tlirough which 
a spring rises, or the contents of the atmosphere 
through which rain falls, may render water as 
different in certain localities as if it were an entirely 
distinct elementary product. The conditions under 
which the English stock has subsisted in New 
England have been such as to alter it materially. 
In no other part of the Continent has it become 
more distinctively American. The ideas which have 
heretofore moulded the national life of the countrv 
have gone forth from New England, and the per- 
ceptible changes now in progress in the Western 
and Pacific States are due to this influence havina: 
ceased to be supreme. 

The divergence between the two En glands is 
most marked on the fundamental j)rinciples of poli- 
tical economy. Not even in Pennsylvania are more 
unbending protectionists to be found than in Mas- 
sachusetts. The doctrine of encouraging native 
industry is there an article of faith which it would 
be a crime to challenge, and treason not to defend 
to the death. The best educated men, and the 
most ably conducted newspapers regard Free trade 
with the loathing and dread which their forefathers 
exhibited towards Quakers and witches, and with 
which English statesmen, a century ago, regarded 
the free-trade notions of Pennsylvania and New 
England. Any one who discusses the question with 
them is certain to be told that Great Britain main- 
tained Protection till she had built up her industries, 
and substituted Free trade for it when the latter 
was found to pay better, and that the United States 
will attain a like prosperity by following an iden- 
tical course. Unhappily the subject is never con- 



170 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

sidered by those reasoners in its larger aspect ; tlie 
welfare of mankind being then placed above the 
selfish interest of a nation. When thus viewed, it 
is clear beyond all possibility of doubt that neither 
the action of Great Britain, nor any benefit which 
may have accrued to her, is of the slightest conse- 
quence in its bearing upon the question at issue. 
Free trade is neither a mere crotchet of speculative 
writers nor a conspiracy entered into by British 
traders and statesmen for their own enrichment at 
the expense of the people of other countries ; but, to 
employ the definition of M. Chevalier, "it is the 
free exercise of human power and faculties in all 
commercial and professional life ; it is the liberty of 
labour in its grandest proportions." I need not 
pursue the matter in detail. I have referred to it 
because it is an important factor in New England 
politics; and 1 think that a change is not to be 
looked for so soon as some persons expect. 

At present, when comparisons between the 
younger and older days of the Republic seem per- 
fectly natural, it may not be uninteresting to show 
what were the opinions prevailing immediately after 
the close of the Revolutionary War. At a meeting 
of merchants, mechanics, and traders, held in 
Faneuil Hall towards the end of 1784, it was re- 
solved that none of the Boston merchants or traders 
should have any dealings with British merchants or 
their agents, those present at the meeting pledging 
themselves : " that we will not let, or sell, any ware- 
house, shop, house, or any other place for the sale of 
British goods, nor will we employ any persons who 
will assist British merchants, factors, or agents, by 
trucks, carts, barrows, or labour (except in the re- 



CAPITAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 171 

sliipment of tbeir mercliandize), but will discounte- 
nance all such persons, who shall in any way advise, 
or in the least degree help or support such merchants, 
factors, or agents, in the prosecution of their busi- 
ness ; as we conceive all such British importations 
are calculated to drain us of our currency, and have 
a direct tendency to impoverish this country." These 
notions were the reverse of what a great Bostonian 
entertained and expressed. In the same year, Dr. 
Franklin supplied what he called " Information to 
those who vv^ould remove to America," and said, 
among other things, " The buying up quantities of 
w^ool and flax, with the design to employ spinners, 
weavers, &c., and form large establishments, pro- 
ducing quantities of linen and woollen goods for 
sale, has been several times attempted in different 
provinces ; but those projects have generally failed, 
goods of equal value being imported cheaper. And 
vHien the Governments [of the several States] have 
been solicited to support such schemes by encourao-e- 
nients in money, or by imposing duties on importa- 
tion of such goods, it has been generally refused, on 
this principle, that if the country is ripe for the 
manufacture it may be carried on by private persons 
to advantage, and if not, it is folly to think of 
forcing nature. . . . The manufacture of silk, they 
say, is natural in France, as that of cloth in Eno-land, 
because each country produces in plenty the first 
material ; but if England will have a manufacture 
of silk as that of cloth, and France one of cloth as 
well as that of silk, these unnatural operations must 
be supported by mutual prohibitions, or hio-her 
duties on the importation of each other's goods, by 
which means the workmen are enabled to tax the 



172 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

home consumer by greater prices, wliile the higher 
wages they receive make them neither happier nor 
richer, since they will only drink more and work 
less. Therefore the Governments in America do 
nothing to encourage such projects. The people by 
this means are not imposed on either by the mer- 
chant or mechanic ; if the merchant demands too 
much profit on imported shoes, they buy of the 
shoemaker, and if he asks too high a price, they 
take them of the merchant. Thus the two profes- 
sions are checks on each other." ^ If these utterances 
are words of wisdom, then the prevailing policy in 
the United States is foolishness, being in direct 
opposition to the policy of which Franklin was the 
able framer and the warm advocate. The citizens of 
Boston have erected a statue to him in front of the 
City Hall ; they glory in him as a fellow-countryman 
whose patriotism is without reproach and whose 
fame fills the world ; but they refrain from yielding 
that highest honour to his memory which consists 
in paying due homage to his teaching. A small 
remnant rejects the dominant views in political 
economy. Professor Dunbar, at Harvard Univer- 
sity, teaches those Free trade doctrines which it is 
easier to reject than to confute. In New York a 
larger body, of which Mr. W. 0. Bryant is one of 
the ornaments, labours to promulgate those doc- 
trines. So confident is Mr. Bryant of the result, 
that he emphatically says, in the preface he has 
written to the " History of the United States," 
which bears his name, — " The manufacturers are 
not likely to give up without a struggle what they 

' Franklin's Works, vol. v. p. 110. 



CAPITAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OP MASSACHUSETTS. 173 

believe so essential to their prosperity, and the friends 
of Free trade, proverbially tenacious of their purpose, 
are not likely to be satisfied while there is left in the 
texture of our revenue laws a single thread of Pro- 
tection which their ingenuity can detect, or their 
skill can draw out." 

The changes in the outward appearance of Bos- 
ton, since my last visit, are very great. Part of 
these are due to the fire which swept away eight 
hundred buildings in the business quarter, the loss 
being estimated at about £20,000,000, and part to 
the erection of new dwelling-houses and churches 
on the land reclaimed from the Charles River. In 
rebuilding the warehouses and merchants' offices 
which had been destroyed, architectural effect has 
been studied. Some of the new structures are too 
fine and too costly. The rents are very high. 

The dwelling-houses erected on the land reclaimed 
from the river are comfortable in their internal 
arrangements and attractive externally. Indeed, 
Commonwealth Avenue, which is now the principal 
thoroughfare, has eclipsed Beacon Street, which 
used to be the abode of all the oldest, most exclusive 
and opulent families in Boston. The plan after 
which the new streets are named is very convenient, 
and is, I think, novel. All those which bisect 
Commonv/ealth Avenue, such as Arlington Street, 
Berkeley Street, Clarendon Street, begin with a letter 
in alphabetical succession. The houses are in keep- 
ing throughout, the promise of the exterior being 
amply fulfilled by the luxuries of the interior. One 
of them, which impressed me greatly, is a note- 
worthy reproduction of an Old English house. It 



174 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

belongs to Dr. J. R. Cbadwick, a young medical 
man, who is rising to eminence in tliat important 
branch, of his profession wherein the late Sir James 
Simpson excelled. If the earliest and greatest Go- 
vernors of Massachusetts, Winthrop, Dudley, and 
Endecott, were to enter this house, they would feel 
themselves more at home in Dr. Chadwick's dinins:- 
room than in any other place in the city. They 
would tread a polished wooden floor, and see bay- 
windows filled with lozenge-shaped panes of glass, 
such as were familiar to them in the comfortable 
homes of Old and New England. The spacious fire- 
pjlace, in which wooden logs are laid across andirons, 
Avould recall to their memories many happy or 
thoughtful hours spent in youth or manhood beside 
the blazing hearth. The swords, shields, and hel- 
mets affixed to the wall above the fireplace would 
remind them of the weapons and armour which they 
had worthily wielded and worn, and would seem far 
more suitable in their eyes than the simple garb of 
the unarmed citizens whom they saw in the streets. 
They might think that the armchair, in which the 
rigid form of mediaeval outline was tempered by soft 
cushions to suit the tired frames of the present gene- 
tion, a cunning temptation to sloth; but they would 
be able to sit, as they were wont to do, on higli- 
backed Elizabethan chairs around the octag^onal oak 
dining-table. There, sumptuous dishes such as they 
never tasted before, and wines from the best vintages 
of Bordeaux and Champagne, might appear in strik- 
ing contrast to the rough fare which they were glad 
to procure, and the ale which they used to consider 
a great treat. In the snug study, they would ob- 
serve other thino^s to remind them of their olden 



CAPITAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 175 

homes ; the spectacle would make Governor Dudley 
feel that the colony which he helped to plant, had 
marvellously changed since the day in March, 1631, 
when, in his letter to the Countess of Lincoln, he 
made excuse for imperfections by setting forth his 
miserable condition, " having yet no table, nor other 
room to write in, than by the fireside upon my knee, 
in this sharp winter ; to which my family must have 
leave to resort, though they break good manners, 
and make me many times forget what I would say, 
and say what I would not." I fear that the luxu- 
rious decorations and furniture of the drawinof-roora 
and bedrooms, though fashioned on Old English 
models, would seem to them far in excess of what 
sinful mortals ought to enjoy, and they might leave 
their excellent host and his charming wife with the 
conviction that it would be necessary to send the 
Rev. John Cotton to " deal " with them. 1 fear also, 
if the Rev. John Cotton or any other zealous minister 
of Puritan days were to revisit Boston, he would have 
to " deal" with so many persons that he would be 
glad enough to return whence he came. The Rev. 
Cotton Mather, hoTvever, would pardon many tokens 
of a rational desire to make this world as comfort- 
able as possible, when he learned that spiritual 
manifestations were now common in the city which 
once showed a wholesome scepticism about his own 
belief in demons going about and working mischief ; 
he would flatter himself with the thoug-ht that his 
" Wonders of the Invisible World " had borne 
fruit. 

Perhaps it is as well that the founders of the Com- 
monwealth of Massachusetts Bay cannot revisit the 
scene of their labours. Thouof'h Boston is still a 



176 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

God-fearing and exemplary city, yet its ways are not 
those which the original settlers deemed essential to 
human happiness. The early rulers and divines who 
carried their theories into effect with unswerving 
precision would find, if they were to return, that 
better results have been obtained by the acceptance 
and practice of opposite theories. People are now 
allowed to go to heaven in their own way, instead of 
beino; threatened with a terrible doom iniless thev 
walk in the narrow path marked out for them, and, 
in the event of proving obstinate, being subjected to 
exile or imprisonment, whipping or hanging. They 
may spend a pleasant evening in a theatre without 
being shunned by strait-laced neighbours, and as- 
sured, by the bestowers of good advice, that they are 
on the high road to perdition. Formerly, the con- 
gregational form of divine service was alone per- 
mitted here. Now, the Episcopalian, the Roman 
Catholic, the Baptist, the Quaker, may worship God 
in his own way, without any man making him afraid. 
Disputes about religion are now confined to words ; 
the logical figure of a sorites, which old-world per- 
secutors loved to employ in the form of a pile of 
faggots, as well as the geometrical figure of a tri- 
angle with a rope dangling from one corner, which 
was sometimes called into requisition in New Eng- 
land in order to exterminate heresy, are happily 
among the traditions of evil days which have long 
ago departed. Since Abner Kneeland underwent 
imprisonment for blasphemy in 1839, the civil 
rights of those persons who are avowedly of little 
faith have received impartial protection. Zeal has 
not abated ; on the contrary, other- worldliness has 
gained in influence what it has lost in privilege. It 



CAPITAL OP THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 177 

is now necessary to appeal to the reason in order to 
gain converts, and, if godliness is to be reckoned by 
church-building and church-going, then Boston has 
lost none of its old reputation. The rivalry between 
the sects is not less keen because they are all equal 
in the eye of the law. Though the members of one 
congregation cannot invoke the Magistrate's aid to 
punish the members of another, yet they can please 
themselves with contemplating what they believe 
will be their fate hereafter. On this head, as on 
many other matters, the words of Franklin may be 
repeated : — " With regard to future bhss, I cannot 
help imagining that multitudes of the zealously or- 
thodox of different sects, who at the last day may 
flock together in hopes of seeing each other damned 
will be disappointed, and obliged to rest content with 
their own salvation." 

While the errors of the early Puritans in matters 
of church government and discipline have been ad- 
mitted and amended, other errors into which they 
fell have been accepted as models for modern legis- 
lation. One of the first acts of the General Court of 
Massachusetts was to order the destruction of Richard 
Clough's " strong water," on the ground that its use 
had occasioned drunkenness and disorder. It was 
natural for the Puritan fathers not only to dictate 
what should be done in questions of ecclesiastical 
polity, but also to decree what men should eat, 
drink, and how they should be clothed. In the bad. 
old times, sumptuary laws and religious persecution 
were matters of course. Yet enlightened men of 
our day, who would shudder at a proposal to take a 
man to task for his religious opinions, think that they 
are performing their duty to the community by for- 

N 



178 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

bidding a man to drink anything containing alcohol. 
They have promulgated this new social command- 
ment on their own authority — " Thou shalt not drink 
anything more potent than lemonade." 

When I last visited Boston, nothing stronger than 
lemonade could be obtained in a bar-room. In the 
one attached to the Parker House, the principal hotel 
in the city, a notice to that effect was posted up. 
Yet any one who entered the restaurant, sat down at 
a table and ordered a bottle of wine, beer, or spirits, 
was served by the waiter. Moreover, it was allow- 
able to buy a bottle of any of them at a grocer's or 
wine merchant's. Hence, the man who wished for a 
glass of these beverages, and could not afford to pay 
for a bottle, had to be a teetotaler under com- 
pulsion, while the man who had a well-lined purse 
could drink as often as he pleased. If this be not 
legislation in favour of the rich to the disadvantage 
of the poor, I do not know what such legislation 
means. 

Were it possible for eloquence to supplant sound 
argument, I should have become a convert to the 
policy of rendering all men sober by hindering any 
man from getting strong drink ; for I have heard a 
speech by Mr. Wendell Philipps on the subject, and 
he is one of the first of living orators. He depicted 
in graphic terms the sad state of the habitual tippler 
who could not pass a " grog-shop " without entering 
it, and he upheld the paramount importance of 
shutting up all " grog-shops " in order that the weak 
might not succumb to temptation. This is the 
course which has been adopted towards the North 
American Indians. They are regarded as children 
and treated accordingly, being kept from strong 



CAPITAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OP MASSACHUSETTS. 179 

drink because they cannot take it in moderation. 
Other men pride themselves upon having reached a 
higher stage of intellectual development than these 
poor Indians, yet it has been seriously proposed to 
treat the white man, who has been taught to practise 
self-denial, as if he were no better than the savage 
who is unable to bridle his appetites. During Mr. 
Wendell Philipps' speech, I could not help recalling 
words as eloquent as his, and I think that John Milton 
inculcated a far nobler principle, and aimed at a much 
higher ideal, when he wrote : — " I cannot praise a 
fugitive and cloistered virtue unexercised and 
unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her 
adversary, but slinks out of the race where that 
immortal garment is to be run for, not without dust 
and heat." It may still be asked in the words of 
the same great poet, " if any action which is good 
or evil in man at ripe years were to be under pittance, 
prescription, and compulsion, what were virtue but 
a name, what praise could then be due to well- 
doing, what, gramercy, to be sober, just, and 
continent?" I hold the legislation which aims at 
making all men sober by preventing any man from 
practising the virtue of temperance, as an evil hardly 
less to be deplored than that of drunkenness. This 
lesson appears to have been learned in Boston. The 
repressive system has had a fair trial, and has been 
found productive of mischief. All legislative enact- 
ments or police regulations which run counter to the 
moral sense of a free community, serve only to make 
legislation a farce and bring the law into contempt. 
The bar-rooms have been reopened under licences ; 
regulations of a sensible kind have been imposed and 
are obeyed. The party which believes in prohibition 

N 2 



180 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

is dissatisfied; but reasonable men do not complain. 
Indeed, the failure of the repressive system is 
ascribed by its advocates to the fact that it was not 
sujQB-ciently stringent. I have read the programme 
of the uncompromising opponents of what is here 
called the *' liquor traffic," and I must admit that it 
is thoroughly consistent and logical. The gist of it 
is that every brewery and distillery shall be closed, 
that every vineyard in the land shall be rooted up, 
that the importation of all alcoholic beverages shall 
be prohibited, so that it will be impossible for any- 
body to procure a single drop of spirits, wine, or 
beer. This is simple, straightforward, and thorough. 
It provides for every contingency and possibility, 
save those which common sense and human nature 
might have in reserve. 

I have described what I saw and heard when the 
Society of the Army of the Potomac met in Philadel- 
phia. In Boston I was honoured with an invitation 
to a gathering of a very different kind, the annual 
dinner of the Massachusetts Medical Society. The 
contrast was striking between the meeting of the 
men of the sword and that of the men of the lancet, 
between those whose glory is in slaughter and those 
whose delight is in prolonging life, between the heroes 
of the battle-field and the saviours of the hospital. A 
member of a profession not less honourable than 
either, I am ready to do full justice to both ; yet, if 
called upon to give precedence to any of them I 
could not hesitate to accord the first place to that 
which strives to diminish human suffering and 
lengthen existence, which finds patients among those 
of every age and every condition, compelling even 



CAPITAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OP MASSACHUSETTS. 181 

the victorious general and incomparable lawyer to 
acknowledge its superiority by invoking its aid. This 
Society numbers 1400 members ; its meetings are 
held yearly in the capital of the State, and last for 
two days, the proceedings being concluded with a 
dinner. It is not within my sphere to notice the 
professional business which was transacted, yet I may 
quote what Dr. Crosby said on a matter of general in- 
terest. He was a visitor from Concord in New Hamp- 
shire, and he told his brethren of Massachusetts how 
his State had dealt with those pests whom he called 
" medical tramps," or whom we should call " itinerant 
quack doctors." Such persons are not unknown in 
this country ; in the United States they swarm. Tlie 
Legislature of New Hampshire having resolved to 
rid their State of these Sangrados, passed an Act 
imposing a penalty of 100 dollars a-day upon every 
person practising there without a licence. Dr. Crosby 
told his brethren the result had been that, since the 
Act was in operation, " not a single medical tramp 
had remained throughout a whole day" in his own 
city of Concord, and that the city of Manchester had 
saved 10,000 dollars during the last year. 

About a thousand members of the society were 
present at the dinner, which took place in the 
Music Hall. I never before saw so many doctors 
enjoying a holiday, nor had I ever seen the like 
number of persons in the United States present such 
distinct tokens of good health. Indeed, looking 
down from the platform, where I had been favoured 
with a seat, upon the occupants of the tables below, 
the sight of so many men with massive heads, largo 
frames, and jovial faces engaged in eating witli what 
appeared to be enviable appetifns, convinced me it is 



182 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

not among the members of the Massachusetts Medi- 
cal Society that the so-called degeneration of the 
Anglo-Saxon type in New England is to be sought 
for. Here, as in a part of the world nearer home, 
there are people who class tobacco-smoking with 
wine-bibbing, and pronounce both to be ruinous to 
the constitution. The Massachusetts doctors, who 
were pictures of sound health, though the majority 
were past middle age, one who was as hale and 
vigorous in appearance as his colleagues, being 
upwards of 90, did not seem to dread the evil effects 
of tobacco. When dinner was over, and before the 
speeches began, boxes of cigars were put upon the 
tables, and smoking was indulged in with a vigour 
which testified to a regular habit and thorough 
enjoyment. The speeches were generally brief and 
to the point. Dr. J. H. Mackie, the chairman, pre- 
faced each toast with a few sentences couched in 
well-chosen language. The retiring President of 
the Society, replying to the toast of his health, made 
an effective hit by producing a bill for medical atten- 
dance upon the wounded at Lexington in 1775, 
which had never been paid. The items were curious ; 
the fact of non-payment, however, did not appear 
surprising to men who are ready to render their ser- 
vices, but are not certain to receive due recompense 
for their labours. His Excellency A. H. Rice, the 
Governor of the State, responded in a very telling 
way for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. With 
this exception, the non-medical speakers were 
eclipsed by the physicians. Judge Bennett, who 
responded for the legal profession, Avas sadly prosy, 
and the Rev. A. H. Quint, who responded for the 
clergy, afforded the depressing spectacle of a good 



CAPITAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 183 

man striving to be humorous. I confess to an 
agreeable surprise when the chairman rose and told 
the company that, while rejoicing in the State and 
land of which they were citizens, they ought not to 
be unmindful of the loins from which their country 
sprang, and then proposed, with hearty expressions 
of kindly feeling and goodwill, the Mother country. 
If applause be a sign of approval, the heartiness of 
the applause which followed demonstrated the cor- 
diality with which the doctors of Massachusetts 
re-echoed these sentiments. The guest who was 
called upon to respond, though he simply recipro- 
cated the compliments which had been handsomely 
paid to the land which he represented, and expressed 
his gratification that the Mother country should 
have been remembered and honoured by so distin- 
guished an assembly, was yet as warmly cheered as 
if he had touched a patriotic fibre. No sooner had 
he sat down than the chairman gave a signal to the 
band, which had played at intervals during dinner, 
and the familiar strains of " God save the Queen " 
resounded through the hall. The Governor of 
Massachusetts rose to his feet ; the whole assembly 
followed his example, remaining standing while the 
national air of the Motherland was played. If a 
citizen of Boston had foretold at the time of the 
separation of the Thirteen Colonies that, on the 
hundredth anniversary of the independence of his 
country, the British National Anthem would be 
played at a dinner of the medical men of Massa- 
chusetts, at which the Governor of the State was 
present as a guest, and would be received with all the 
marks of respect which are shown when it is heard 
in any city throughout the British Empire, he would 



184 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

have incurred the reproach of being a traitor, and he 
would have sneeringly been told to go to Halifax, 
that is, to follow the United Empire Loyalists who 
had cast in their lot with the Government of 
Great Britain. Happily, the citizens of the Com- 
monwealth of Massachusetts now feel that they 
can perform an act of international courtesy without 
fearing that it will be unappreciated or misunder- 
stood. 

Bostonians welcome a stranger with geniality, and 
they treat him with a hospitality which makes him 
consider that he is at home. This is not the rule in 
the United States, A traveller there will commonly 
receive much good advice from those to whom he 
presents letters of introduction, and, if he be excep- 
tionally fortunate, he will be offered as many fresh 
letters of introduction as he chooses to carry a,way 
with him, these letters being usually of the value of 
waste paper. An introduction to the president of a 
great railway compan)^ will probably insure the dis- 
play of what I may term railway hospitality. A 
directors' car will be put at the traveller's disposal, 
and he will be allowed to journey over the line as 
much as he pleases ; it may even happen that, when 
he halts, his hotel bills will be paid by the company. 
The expense of all this falls upon the shareholders, 
many of whom maybe the traveller's fellow-country- 
men, who vainly puzzle themselves as to why the 
working expenses of the railway are so heavy, and 
who are doomed to receive empty promises instead of 
dividends. It is not in this vicarious fashion that 
Bostonians both welcome and entertain strangers ; 
hence the latter leave the city with an indelible 
impression of having been the recipients of an 



CAPITAL OP THE COMMONWEALTH OP MASSACHUSETTS. 185 

amount of personal kindness for which it would be 
difficult to make an adequate return. 

The best men have their hobbies or failings, and 
Bostonians are not exempt from the weaknesses of 
human nature. Justly proud of their city, they are 
rather too sensitive on the subject of climate. They 
know that the climate of Boston falls short of per- 
fection ; but they do not relish complaints about it 
from strangers. Having succeeded in so many 
things, it must be mortifying for them to feel that 
their ingenuity and perseverance cannot avail to 
abolish or temper the East Wind. This draw- 
back to existence in the American Athens, the 
capital of Massachusetts, is also a drawback to 
existence in the Modern Athens, the capital of Scot- 
land. Sydney Smith gave the following advice to 
an Eno^lish friend who was about to visit Edinburo^h : 
*•' When you arrive there it may rain, snow, or blow 
for many days, and the people will assure you that 
they never knew such a season before. If you would 
be popular, declare you think it the most delightful 
climate in the world." The visitor to Boston who 
turns this suggestion to account will rise in the 
estimation of its worthy citizens. 



186 



XI. 

SARATOGA AND WEST POINT. 

Boston, Saratoga, and Yorktown are the names of 
three places inseparably associated with the inex- 
cusable mistakes of British Ministers and Generals 
during the American revolution. It was fitting that 
a war, which was in itself a gigantic blunder, should 
have been conducted by incomparable blunderers. 
Thackeray makes Sir George Warrington say with 
great truth in the Virginians — " In reading over our 
American campaigns from their unhappy commence- 
ment to their inglorious end, now that we are able 
to see the enemy's movements and condition as well 
as our own, I fancy we can see how an advance — a 
march — might have put enemies into our power who 
had no means to withstand it, and changed the 
entire issue of the struggle." This is specially ap- 
plicable to the ill-fated expedition which ended in 
the capitulation at Saratoga. Had Burgoyne suc- 
ceeded, the character of the struggle would have 
been changed. His signal failure led to the inter- 
vention of France. The final independence of the 
Thirteen United Colonies was mainly owing to the 
French alliance, to French treasure, French soldiers, 
and a French fleet. 

The importance of the result at Saratoga led Sir 



SARATOGA AND WEST POINT. 187 

Edward Creasy to include the fighting there among 
the decisive battles of the world. Few military 
expeditions, however, have been the subject of 
greater misconception than that which Burgoyne 
commanded. To set forth the facts in due order 
would imply rewriting the story of the campaign ; 
at present, I shall content myself with pointing out 
a few egregious errors. The Ministry designed that 
a combined movement should be undertaken by 
General Howe and General Burgoyne; the former 
advancing up the Hudson from New York ; the 
latter advancing upon the Hudson from Quebec, a 
junction being effected at Albany. By the time that 
Burgoyne had reached the Hudson, General Howe 
was approaching Philadelphia. The reason of this 
extraordinary misunderstanding was not known till 
the publication of the " Life of Lord Shelburne." 
Burgoyne carried out the imperative instructions 
which he had received from Lord George Germain ; 
the latter drafted instructions to General Howe, 
but these were not forwarded till the time had 
passed for them to have any effect; hence the 
combined movement never took place, and thus 
the capitulation at Saratoga was the necessary con- 
sequence of Lord George Germain's unpardonable 
neglect.' General Burgoyne, though unfortunate, 
was not disgraced, and he must not be classed 
among such incompetent commanders as Gage and 
Howe, Clinton and Cornwallis. 

If any one, really anxious to ascertain the truth, 
should try to learn how many men capitulated at 
Saratoga, he will have some difl&culty in arriving at 

* " Life of tlu; Earl of Shelburne," by LordEdinond Fitzinaurice, 
vol. i. pp. :i58, 859. 



188 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

a definite conclusion. Having examined seven short 
histories of the United States, by different authors, 
which are used in teachino- school children the 
annals of their country, I find that the number of 
Burgoyne's array, at the date of capitulation, is 
given as 5,752 in one, 5,791 in another, more than 
5,000 in a third, 6,000 in a fourth, as the remainder 
of 6,000 in a fifth, over 6,000 in a sixth, Avliile no 
figures are stated in a seventh. All agree, however, 
in estimating the number, when the army started from 
Canada, at 10,000. Mr. Bancroft, in the last edition 
of his " History of the United States," an edition 
which has been carefully revised, or, as he puts it 
in a prefatory note, to the revision of which " a solid 
year of close and undivided application has been 
devoted," says that the number who capitulated, 
"including officers, was 5,791. Besides these, there 
were 1,856 prisoners of war, including the sick and 
wounded, who had been abandoned. Of deserters 
there were 300, so that — including the killed, 
prisoners, and disabled at Hubbardtown, Fort Ann, 
Bennington, Orisca, the outposts of Tyconderoga, 
and round Saratoga — the total loss of the Britisli in 
this northern campaign was not far from 10,000, 
counting officers as well as rank and file." Dr. 
Noah Webster, who served in the militia under 
General Stark and was present at the capitulation, 
referred to it in an essay written ten years after and 
said that Burgoyne's force amounted " according to 
some to 10,000, and according to others, to 5,752."' 
These discrepancies are typical of the current ver- 
sions of events in American annals. The truth is that 

' " Easays mid Fugilive Writiiiys by Noah Webster," p. 171- 



SAEATOGA AND WEST POINT. 189 

the expeditionary force numbered 7,902, when it 
started from Canada. Nearly 1000 men were left to 
garrison Tyconderoga. All the Indians left it before 
the capitulation ; many of the other auxiliaries de- 
serted; the losses in killed and wounded were very 
heavy. General Burgoyne stated in his ofl&cial report 
that the number wdio capitulated was 3,500, and there 
can be no doubt as to his accuracy. Sir Edward 
Creasy, who rightly estimated the significance of the 
issue, is as untrustworthy in his figures as the greatest 
blunderer could be. He states that the number who 
capitulated was 5,790, that the killed and wounded 
numbered 4,689. If these figures are, added to- 
gether, it will be found that they exceed by 2,577 
the total of the force which started from Quebec ! 
None of the United States writers whose works I 
have consulted, think fit to mention that the vic- 
torious force under General Gates numbered 17,000. 
That the atfair was a humiliating one for the British 
arms cannot be denied, but the degree and measure 
of humiliation may admit of qualification when the 
truth is fully set forth, and the figures are fairly 
estimated. 

An expedition to Saratoga is now a very easy 
matter, whether the starting-point be Quebec or New 
York. The thick woods which were hindrances to 
the operations of Burgoyne, and the bad roads which 
rendered his march slow and difficult, no longer give 
annoyance to the peaceful traveller. The trees have 
been felled ; railways have been made ; the fastest 
steamboats in the world ply on the Hudson, and 
Saratoga Springs can be reached, within six hours 
by rail, from New York, and in twice that time by 
taking the steamer to Albany. A more enjoyable 



190 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

sail than one on the Hudson, during a fine day 
in summer, cannot be conceived. No steamers, in 
any part of the world are superior in speed and 
luxury of accommodation to the G. Vihhard, Daniel 
Drew, or Mary Poivell, and they are only surpassed 
here by the Bristol and Providence, which ply between 
New York and Fall River. When walking round 
the galleries, which run along the inside above the 
saloon, it is hard to believe that one is on board a 
vessel ; the smoothness with which the engines work 
renders it as hard to understand that one is beino- 
propelled through the water at the rate of twenty- 
five miles an hour. The change from the time, when 
Robert Fulton made his Clermont move at the rate 
of seven miles an hour, is quite as remarkable as 
that which was wrought when his steamboat dis- 
placed sailing packets. Yet, in one respect, no 
change has occurred, even if we go back to the year 
1609, when Henry Hudson sailed up this river in 
the Half Moon ; the scenery is as beautiful now as 
it was when a European eye gazed upon it for the 
first time, and more beautiful scenery cannot be 
desired. 

It is common for United States travellers in 
Europe to institute comparisons between the Hud- 
son and the Rhine, or the Danube, and to give the 
preference to their own river. Those among them 
who come from California are as fond of saying that 
the beauties of the Lake of Geneva, or any Swiss 
lake, fall far short of those of Donner Lake or Lake 
Tahoe. Nothing can be more futile than endeavours 
to compare two things which are essentially diff'erent, 
and nothing can be more foolish than to refuse ad- 
miration for something seen abroad, because iL is 



SARATOGA AND WEST POINT. 191 

not tlie same as something at home. A citizen of 
Glasgow may well believe that a sail in the lona 
from the Broomielaw to Ardrishaig is the pleasantest 
thing in the world ; a Londoner has as good reason 
for maintaining that the view of the valley of the 
Thames from Richmond Park, or a sail between 
Twyford and Great Marlow, cannot be surpassed in 
picturesqueness; while a German's enthusiasm about 
the charms of the Rhine between Coblentz and 
Bingen is perfectly natural. Not one of these, or 
other famous places of interest which might be 
named, has any similarity, each being marked with 
a special attraction, and invested with a beauty of 
its own. This is strikingly true of the river Hud- 
son, and to refuse to admire it because one prefers 
the Rhine, the Clyde, or the Thames, is as absurd 
as to refuse to admire the Rhine, the Clyde, and the 
Thames, because they do not resemble the Hudson. 
For twenty miles, after leaving the wharf, the 
steamer passes along that part of the river which is 
called the Palisades. I was never more impressed 
with any other natural appearances, unless it were 
the canyons of the Rocky Mountains or the " Gates 
of the Alps," as represented by Mr. Ruskin, and as 
they are to be seen between Botzen and Verona. 
The rocks rise to the height of 500 feet, and present 
an unbroken surface as far as the eye can reach, while 
the sparse vegetation on the sides, and the serrated 
outline at the top, deprive the prospect of monotony. 
Then comes the Tappan Zee, where the river ex- 
pands so as to resemble a lake, being here three 
miles wide. Next we enter the part which is called 
the Highlands, where all the charms of mountain, 
water, and wood are combined in exquisite proper- 



1 92 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

tions. It is difficult to say what spot is the most 
lovely and what effect is the most remarkable. If 
we land at West Point, which is rather less than 
half-way between New York and x^lban^^, the feeling 
will be one of disinclination to go either forwards or 
backwards. This spot is almost "unrivalled in 
natural beauty. The river winds round three sides 
of it, and the wooded heights on both banks make a 
lovely background to the landscape. If the officers 
in the United States army are devoid of enthusiasm 
about natural scenery, it is not for want of experience 
of the beautiful in nature. 

As a training-school, the Military Academy at 
West Point has a reputation which is thoroughly 
merited. The cadets are drilled and taught with a 
care and completeness which cannot be surpassed at 
Sandhurst, St. Cyr, or Berlin. I saw them at their 
drill, and I was impressed with the resemblance be- 
tween the cavalry drill here and that which is taught 
in France. The demonstrativeness, which is notable 
in the French service, is not only permitted, but 
inculcated in that of the United States. When the 
charge is sounded, the men gallop forward waving 
their sabres and shouting at the top of their voices. 
In the German army, as well as in our own, this 
would be condemned as unsoldierlike. I was pleased 
to see that the Mexican stirrup was used ; this is a 
small matter of detail which is worth adopting in our 
service. The infantry drill was remarkable for its 
antiquated character. The young lads were made to 
keep their hands in the stiff and unnatural attitudes 
which were doubtless introduced by Baron von Steu- 
ben into the United States army, which were cer- 
tainly enforced by the drill sergeants of Frederick 



SARATOGA AND WEST POINT. 198 

the Great, which are still enforced in the German 
army, but which have happily been abandoned in our 
own. The cadets went through their drill with great 
precision; indeed, they were treated as rigidly as 
any German recruits whom I have ever seen in the 
painful stage of conversion from slouching peasants 
into smart soldiers. If Colonel Martinet were alive, 
the soldiers of the United States regular army 
would please him better than any upon earth, with 
the sole exception of Russian soldiers. Yet, while 
an officer and private in the United States service 
are trained to act with the accuracy of a machine, 
they are not mere machines in the field, and they 
can meet an emergency with a readiness of resource 
which excites admiration. 

Though the Military Academy at "West Point is the 
chief object of interest, yet the natural beauties of 
the place form the real attraction. At every turn a 
new view meets the eye. From one place I sud- 
denly caught a glimpse of a distant prospect, which 
recalled Turner's " Italy," and made me forget that 
the land of dreams was far away. Those persons 
who associate the name of West Point with the 
treachery of Arnold and the fate of Andre will be 
disappointed to find that the place has undergone an 
entire transformation since the days when it was the 
Ehrenbreitstein of the Hudson. Fort Putman, a 
little way up the river, alone remains in its ruined 
state to show the position and character of the old 
fortifications. I could not even learn where the 
chain was stretched from bank to bank to hinder the 
upward passage of the Vulture man-of-war. The rea- 
son why the forts which once lined the Hudson have 
been allowed to fall into decay, or to disappear alto- 





X94 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

aether, is that no occasion for their protection is 
likely to recur. A hostile fleet sailing up the river 
is a contingency which needs never to be provided 
against It would be as absurd to fortify Hampton 
Court as to fortify West Point. For some distance 
higloT up the scenery is as striking as at this place, 
but a good way before Albany is reached the view 
from the river is as tame as that from the Hhme 
between Mainz and Mannheim. 



19i 



XII. 

SAEATOGA SPRINGS. 

At Albany, the capital of the State of New 
York, the river ceases to be navigable for vessels 
drawing much water. Here it was that Henry- 
Hudson found his dream of having discovered a 
passage to the South Sea disperse into empty air, 
the splendid stream which he had discovered proving 
to be a river and nothing more. Here, too, the 
passengers bound for Saratoga continue their jour- 
ney by rail if they have commenced it by water. 
At Troy, six miles distant from Albany, they 
enter a train on the Saratoga and Rensselaer Rail- 
way. The very name of this place clashes with the 
oldest and most cherished recollections of the 
readers of ancient history. This Troy has nothing 
classical about it save the name ; its reputation is 
based on the manufacture of Bessemer steel and of 
iron stoves. The poet who should be inspired by 
the United States Troy would be capable of writing 
an epic about Birmingham. 

Seven miles before reaching Saratoga, the train 
stops at Ballston Spa, a place which was once in great 
repute for its mineral waters, but which is chiefly 
famous now for the production of paper collars. At 
Saratoga Springs, the stranger who has journeyed 

2 



196 COLUMBIA AND CAiNADA. 

through the United States is at once struck with the 
hotel omnibuses which chister around the station, 
a sight reminding him of the watering-places of 
Europe. As I had determined to go to the Claren- 
don Hotel, I had simply to mention the fact in order 
to receive all possible attention from tlie dark- 
visaged and smartly-dressed conductor of the om- 
nibus belonging to it. That place of entertainment, 
according to the advertisements, was " patronized by 
the aristocracy of Europe and America." It had, 
moreover, the attraction of a spring of mineral water 
in the garden attached to it ; if its frequenters 
belonged to the aristocracy of a Monarchy or a 
Republic, they certainly bore a striking resemblance 
to others who make no aristocratic pretensions. 

I have visited several places frequented by invalids 
who either drink mineral waters, bathe in them, or 
do both ; this is one of the few which does not boast 
of having been discovered and favoured by the 
Romans. Judging from tradition, the Romans 
would appear to have been as much bent upon 
drinking mineral water as upon universal conquest, 
or they may have been moved to conquer the world 
in order to have at their command natural tonics to 
strengthen them, or natural aperients to relieve them 
from dyspepsia. The springs of Saratoga, which 
had long been known to the Indians, did not become 
fashionable till some time after the nineteenth cen- 
tury had begun. They are now so greatly frequented 
that the ordinary population of the village, which 
numbers 8,000, has 18,000 persons added to it in 
the season. Homburg and Baden cannot show 
greater signs of popularity. Like them in former 
days, Saratoga has a gaming-house, which appears 



I 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 197 

o be quite as attractive to many visitors as the 
mineral springs. 

There is a curious and interesting letter about 
Saratoga, among those which were sent to Washing- 
ton by his friends and acquaintances. Nowadays, 
the inquirer can easily learn what makes the waters 
sparkle, and what their virtues are supposed to be ; a 
century ago, leading chemists knew less about car- 
bonic acid gas than a modern school-girl does. Mr. 
Otho H. Williams, writing from Baltimore on the 
12th of July, 1784, says that his visit to Saratoga 
Springs was paid because Washington had once 
recommended them as a cure for rheumatism. In 
the following account, he probably referred to the 
High Rock Spring, discovered by Sir William John- 
son, in 1767, which still retains the appearance he 
describes : — " The springs are now much frequented 
by the uncivilized people of the back-country — but 
very few others resort to them, as there is but one 
small hut within several miles of the place. Colonel 
Armstrong and myself spent one week there, which 
was equal to a little campaign, for the accommoda- 
tion was very wretched, and provisions exceedingly 
scarce. The country about the springs being uncul- 
tivated, we were forced to send to the borders of the 
Hudson for what was necessary for our subsistence. 
During our stay we made a few little experiments on 
the waters. Bark of a restringent quality turned 
them to a purple colour very suddenly, and we 
thought that iron was discoverable even to the taste. 
They have certainly a very great quantity of salts. 
. . . But that which distinguishes these waters in a 
very conspicuous degree from all others is the great 
quantity of fixed air which they contain. They are 



198 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

exceedingly pungent to the taste, and after being 
drunk a short time, will often affeet the nose bko 
brisk bottled ale. Tbe water will raise Bour sooner 
than any other thing, and cannot be confined so that 
the air will not somehow or other escape, beveral 
persons told us that they had corked it tight m bot- 
tles and that the bottles broke. We tried it with 
the only bottle we had, which did not break, but the 
air found its way through a wooden stopper and the 
waK with which it was sealed. A trout died m the 
water in less than a minute, or seemed dead, but 
reooTered in common water. This experiment was 
repeated with the same effect. We observed m dig- 
.nuo- that the rocks which are about the springs, and 
whfch in one or two places project themselves above 
the earth in a conic form, go not deep mto the 
crround, but are formed by the waters which (the 
man who lives at the place informed us) overflow 
once per month, when not disturbed, and the earthy 
parts, being exposed to the air and sun petnfy and 
increase. This opinion is strengthened by the shells 
and bodies of insects which we found m broken 
parts of the rock. I have given you my observa- 
tions, because I think you told me what you knew 
of these extraordinary springs was from intor- 

niation." ^^ ^ , , , 

To this picture of Saratoga in 1784, which was 
provided for the information of Washington, I may 
append another representing it in 1797, drawn by 
Professor Benjamin SiUiman, of Yale Col ege who 
may be styled the father of chemistry m the United 
States:-" Mr. Elliott, Mr. Winn, and myself 
mounted our horses one day (at Ballston) and 
rode seven or eight miles through the pine forest. 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 199 

with its delightful fragrance, and arrived at the place 
where they said there were some mineral springs. 
There was not even a village, but only two or three 
log- houses standing among the pine-trees. The 
people were civil, and provided hay for our horses, 
and for ourselves bacon and eggs. They then 
piloted us into a morass where nature was unsub- 
dued, and, stepping cautiously from bog to bog, we 
soon arrived at a spring which they called the Con- 
gress Spring, and we drank the water, which tasted 
as it does now." Returning thither after twenty- 
six years, he adds : — " What a change ! A beau- 
tiful city had arisen where there were only a morass 
and a pine barren. Beautiful lawns, adorned with 
statuary, now meet the eyes, and the fashionable 
world in the summer months, throng this favourite 
resort." 

The active constituent of these mineral waters is 
chloride of sodium ; they are largely charged with 
carbonic acid gas, are pleasant to the palate, and 
they resemble, alike in their constituents and their 
action, the waters of Homburg. Congress Spring, 
situated in a park of the same name, is most com- 
monly preferred by the water-drinkers. The park is 
tastefully laid out and well kept. "With a view to 
render the company more exclusive, a covered pro- 
menade has been formed, to whicb the charge for 
admission is ten cents. I was told that this arrange- 
ment had the advantage of separating the coloured 
and poorer from the white and wealthier citizens. 
The poorer members of the community can drink 
water gratis, underneath the structure frequented 
by the fashionable visitors. 

A mile and a half to the south of the village is the 



200 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

Geyser Spring, wliicli was discovered in 1870, and is 
one of tlie curiosities of the place. It was found by 
boring a hole b^ inches in diameter to the depth of 
132 feet in the limestone rock ; the water rises to 
the height of thirty-two feet above the surface of the 
ground. The proprietor of this spring styles it " a 
pure mineral aperient and tonic compounded by 
nature," containing nearly 100 cubic inches of carbonic 
gas to the gallon in excess of any other spring, and 
" a delightful beverage." To the taste, it differs in 
no appreciable degree from other springs here ; but 
this does not disprove all that the proprietor says in 
its praise. Moreover, it would be presumptuous to 
place a personal opinion in opposition to the fact 
that, 100,000 persons having visited the Geyser 
Spring in 1875, " the universal testimony is that the 
waters are the best and the spring the most wonderful 
in the world." The logical sequence and force of this 
are not beyond criticism. 

Scarcely any person thinks of walking to the 
Geyser Spring. When I intimated that I preferred 
to walk thither, I was told by the man whose duty at 
the hotel consisted in providing carriages for visi- 
tors, that it was pleasanter to drive. He expressed 
his surprise when my wife and myself achieved the 
feat of going and returning on foot, and hardly sup- 
pressed his contempt for this disregard of social cus- 
tom. When Mr. Stuart was here in 1828, he found 
the disinclination to take walking exercise as great as 
I did; he says: "Invalids seem to confine themselves 
to a five or ten minutes' walk in the morning, when 
they go to the fountain, and to drive in an open 
carriage for an hour, or an hour and a half. When 
they meet us walking several miles for exercise, and 



SARATOGA SPRINGS. 201 

the pleasure of being in tlie open air, tliey, whether 
acquainted with us or not, frequently stop their 
vehicles, and very civilly offer us a ride with them, 
and can hardly believe us serious when we, in 
declining to avail ourselves of their kindly-meant 
offer, tell them that we prefer walking. There are 
few more striking points of difference between this 
country and Britain, than the numbers of people who 
ride and walk on the public roads. It absolutely 
seems disgraceful to be seen walking." ' When the 
Duke of Manchester visited the American continent, 
he spent several days at Niagara Falls. He went 
on foot to the various places of interest, combining 
sight-seeing with healthful exercise. As an English 
Duke, he was the subject of much curiosity, but he 
fell far below the standard of a shoddy millionaire 
in the estimation of the censorious citizens who were 
attentive to his doings, their verdict being thus 
formulated : " He could not be much of a Duke, for 
he always walked." 

Every visitor to Saratoga is expected to visit first 
the Geyser Spring, and next the Lake. The latter 
is four miles distant. The road thither is more 
pleasing than the prospect of the lake itself, the 
ground about it being very marshy and the view 
devoid of character. To walk so far is accounted a 
still greater transgression, in the opinion of the 
carriage-keepers, than to walk to the Geyser Spring. 
An Indian camp is classed among the attractions of 
Saratoga Springs. Those persons who have money 
to expend on rubbish, and who can resist the evi- 
dence which leads to the conclusion that some of 

^ " Three Years in North America," by James Stuart, vol. i. 
p. 193. 



202 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

tliese children of nature must have been born in 
Ireland, will gladly empty their purses in exchange 
for trash, and feel gratification in studying the 
simple manners and artless speech of the Red man 
and his family. 

To drink mineral water before breakfast and hear 
the band play, to look with eagerness for the arrival 
of the New York newspapers in the forenoon, to 
take a drive after dinner, to dance or watch others 
wearying themselves by dancing in the evening, and 
to vary this dissipated life by visiting the gaming- 
hell of the Honourable John Morrissey, where 
refreshments may be had gratis and money may be 
lost as easily as on the Stock Exchange, such is the 
daily routine of life here. Not very dissimilar is the 
life at watering-places all over the world. Of Sara- 
toga I may say, as Horace Walpole said of Bath in 
its palmy days, that people go thither well and return 
home cured. Those persons who are the least exact- 
ing will be the most gratified. The truth ob this 
head has been pointedly expressed by M. Taine in his 
" Journey to the Pyrenees :" — " If life at a watering- 
place be a romance, it is so in books only. In order 
to see great men there, it is necessary to carry them 
in one's portmanteau bound in calf. It is likewise 
held that conversation at a watering-place is very 
clever, that one meets nobody there but artists, men 
of eminence, men moving in the best society ; that 
ideas, grace, and elegance abound, and that the 
flower of every pleasure and of all thought blossoms 
there. The fact is that one wears out one's hats 
and eats many peaches at a watering-place, that one 
talks a great deal, and that, as regards men and 
ideas, it is much the same there as anywhere else." 



SAEATOGA SPRINGS. 203 

The Grand Union Hotel, one of the largest in Sara- 
toga, was a pet project of the late Mr. Stewart. The 
garden is one of the finest attached to any hotel. 
At the western end of the ball-room is a gigantic 
painting by M. Yvon, representing " The Genius of 
America." What is thought of the picture cannot 
better be expressed than in the words of an admiring 
citizen of the United States : — " The picture and 
frame weigh 3000 lbs. The latter is a marvel of 
workmanship, and was made in Paris under the 
immediate direction of the great historical artist." 
The artist might not be flattered if he learned that 
his picture is chiefly valued on account of its weight 
and the beauty of its frame. Mr. Stewart's inten- 
tion was to adorn his gallery in New York with this 
work of art. But he found, as Dr. Primrose did, that 
space failed him ; yet, instead of being nonplussed, 
like the ingenuous Vicar of Wakefield, he sent it to 
excite the astonishment of the visitors to his hotel 
at Saratoga Springs. 



204 



XIII. 

A TRIP THROUGH CANADA. 



THE^first time tliat I entered tlie Dominion of 
Canada, I travelled over the Grand Trunk Railway 
from Portland, the principal city in the State of 
Maine, to Montreal, the commercial capital of the 
Province of Quebec. The situation of both cities is 
very picturesque. Few sights are finer than the 
Bay of Casco, on which Portland is built. The bay 
is of large area and studded with wooded islands. 
The harbour is one of the safest and deepest on the 
coast of New England; it is sheltered from dangerous 
winds; it is never obstructed by ice; the Great 
Eadeni steamed up to the wharf, and was moored 
alongside it. As Portland is situated on an undu- 
lating slope, the streets are not monotonously level; 
the buildings erected since the great fire are sub- 
stantial structures ; the pubhc offices, such as the 
City Hall, the Custom House, and the Post Office, 
are imposing edifices. Trees are thickly planted m 
front of the houses in the principal streets; this pro- 
duces a pleasant effect. It is said that there are as 
many as 3,000 of these trees ; and as the population 
does not much exceed 30,000, there is ample pro- 
vision made for shade from the sun, and there is a 
plausible reason for styling this the " Forest City." 



A TRIP THROUGH CANADA. 205 

While the inhabitants are thus protected from the 
blazing summer sun, they are supposed to be kept 
sober all the year round by restrictive legislation 
against drunkenness. If the water they drink be as 
unpalatable as that which was served to me at a 
hotel, they have no cause to thank the legislators 
who try to hinder them from drinking anything else. 
I was assured that intoxication was not an extinct 
vice, and I was shown how to get as much strong 
drink as I chose to pay for. If the Laird of Dum- 
biedykes had visited this place, he would have been 
strengthened in his belief about the omnipotence of 
"siller." 

It has been found necessary to render the Act 
far more stringent than it was originally. The 
manufacture of all intoxicants is now prohibited in 
this State ; the offender is liable to two months' im- 
prisonment and a fine of $1,000; negligence in any 
magistrate or attorney in enforcing the law being 
punished with a penalty of $100. I failed in obtain- 
ing evidence that this State was pre-eminent above 
others for the absence of crimes of violence. The 
last annual report of the Attorney-General does not 
favour the conclusion that the legislation against 
drinking alcoholic beverages has converted the State 
of Maine into a terrestrial paradise. Lawyers have 
no reason to complain ; they are kept fully occupied 
in prosecuting those who infringe " the liquor law." 

A sentence written by Dr. Noah Webster might 
be pondered with advantage by his fellow-country- 
men in the State of Maine ; " Laws can only check 
the public effects of vicious principles ; but can never 
reach the principles themselves." Nature has done 
more to make Portland an agreeable place of abode 



i j ^ r i.3** - ;;^ 



206 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

than the most fantastic legislation can counter- 
balance. Even were it otherwise, the name of this 
city is certain of being held in kindly remembrance ; 
Mr. Longfellow was born here. 

The scenery along the railway, after leaving Port- 
land is pretty, without being remarkable. To the 
left there is a mountain range which gratifies the 
eye After ninety miles have been traversed, the 
passengers who purpose making a tour in the White 
Mountains leave the train at Gosham. One of these. 
Mount Washington, to which the Indians gave the 
simple name of " Agiocochook," has always seemed 
to me the most wonderful mountain in the world, 
provided the account I read of it in a local news- 
paper be literally accurate; it was there said to be 
« crowned with perpetual snow for nine months out 
of the twelve." At Island Pond station, about 150 
miles distant from Portland, a halt is made for the 
double purpose of taking refreshment and havmg 
the luggage examined by the custom-house officers. 
Soon after this station has been left behmd a little 
stream is pointed out as forming the boundary-hne 
between the two countries. This portion of Cana- 
dian soil, which is designated the Eastern Town- 
ships, has a rich and well-tilled aspect Nothing, 
however, is specially noteworthy till the Victoria 
Bridge is reached; this is quite as wonderful as 
a work of man as the great river which it spans 
is as a work of nature. The bridge is one mile and 
a half long. Nearly a miUion and a half sterling 
was expended upon it. Its sohdity is as notable as 
its length. Men shook their heads and confidently 
predicted that the piers would be swept away by 
the enormous pressure of the ice when the river 



A TRIP THROUGH CANADA. 207 

became a series of miniature and swiftly moving 
icebergs in the spring time ; but the rapid current 
has borne along masses of ice year after year with- 
out the stability of the bridge having been en- 
dangered for a moment. 

Montreal is one of the most remarkable cities of 
North America. Though 600 miles distant from 
the ocean, it may be termed a sea-port. Vessels 
exceeding 3,000 tons burden can lie alongside its 
solid stone quays. Not so quaint as Quebec, nor so 
new as Toronto, less French than the former, and 
less English than the latter, it represents an epitome 
of Canadian history. The two European races which 
people Canada meet here on neutral yet congenial 
ground. Working in unison, they have built up a 
splendid city and established commercial relations 
with the civilized globe. The pleasures of life can 
be enjoyed here while the business of money-making 
is being actively pursued ; the successful merchant 
who has a house on Mount Royal is a man to be 
envied. From Montreal, I went by the Grand 
Trunk to Prescott Junction, whence I proceeded by 
a branch line to Ottawa, the capital of the Dominion. 
In my opinion, the capital of a country ought to be 
the principal city in it. A long time must elapse 
before Ottawa becomes entitled to the appellation 
of the principal city of Canada. It is as artificial a 
capital as Washington. It was selected because the 
conflicting claims of Quebec, Montreal, and Toronto 
being irreconcilable, the choice was left to the Queen, 
who ended the rivalry by bestowing the palm upon 
Ottawa. Its foundation dates from the year 1827. 
The population is still under 30,000, yet the city is 
gradually increasing alike in inhabitants and influ- 



208 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

euce ; and, wlien it becomes a station on the Cana- 
dian Pacific Railway, its progress may be equal to 
its ambition. The Houses of Parliament and Govern- 
ment Offices are the most conspicuous objects in 
Ottawa. They are built in the Gothic style of 
architecture, and are at once impressive in appear- 
ance, and admirably adapted for the purposes they 
are i'ntended to subserve. Situated on an emmence 
resembling the rocky heights on which the castles 
of Edinburgh and Stirhng stand, they dominate the 
scene. The Ottawa river winds at the base of this 
eminence; the view from the path on the side 
facing the river is as romantic as can be imagmed. 
Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor-General, 
is in the suburb of New Edinburgh, which lies 
below the capital. The gardens of this official 
abode are nicely laid out; they had been planned 
and when I saw them, were kept in order by a 
Scottish gardener. The house itself, when I 
first visited it, was neither commodious nor attrac- 
tive ; but it has been lately rebuilt and greatly 
improved. Across the river is the town of Hull m 
the Province of Quebec. I was startled with the 
change on entering it. It seemed as if I had 
crossed the Channel from Southampton to Havre 
and entered Normandy. A signboard on the first 
house I saw intimated that " tabac " was sold there ; 
the first woman I passed in the main street had the 
look of a Norman peasant. Contrasts like these 
strikingly remind the stranger that Canada is a 
far more varied country than the United States. 
There are manv other objects of interest m Ottawa; 
however, I cannot describe them in detail at present, 
havino- to take the train back to Prescott Junction 



A TEIP THEOUGH CANADA. 209 

on my way over tlie Grand Trunk to Toronto, which 
is reached in about ten hours' time. The traveller 
who has to wait for the train at Prescott Junction 
will not regret taking luncheon or dinner there. A 
better managed refreshment-room, when I visited it, 
could with difficulty be found, even on the line from 
Paris to Marseilles. 

Having formerly journeyed to the capital of 
Ontario in the manner described, I purposed going 
thither on the present occasion by way of Niagara 
Falls, revisiting the Province of Quebec by descend- 
ing the St. Lawrence and continuing my route over 
the Intercolonial Railway as far as Halifax. Cir- 
cumstances which have no interest for the reader 
obliged me to leave out the most novel and interest- 
ing part of this programme. To traverse the mari- 
time Provinces of Canada, as well as the Province of 
British Columbia and the prairie Province of Mani- 
toba, is still one of my unsatisfied desires. Some 
day or other, I hope to journey through this 
magnificent Dominion, from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, so as to be enabled to compare it, as a whole, 
with the territory of the United States, over which 
I have travelled from ocean to ocean. I do not 
regret, however, that I was permitted to devote 
more time than I might otherwise have done to a 
second and more prolonged study of the Province of 
Ontario. 

Stopping at Niagara Falls on my way to Toronto, 
I gazed with renewed wonder on the grand sight of 
the green waters which flow out of Lake Erie taking 
a majestic leap on their headlong course towards the 
deep blue waters of Lake Ontario, whence issues the 
noble river St. Lawrence. I crossed the Lake in the 



210 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

Cifij of Toronto steamer, which plies between Lewis- 
ton and the capital of Ontario. A conspicuous 
object from the United States side of the Lake is the 
monument to General Brock. No other man did 
more than Sir Isaac Brock to secure the indepen- 
dence of Upper Canada. He filled the office of 
President there when an armed force, numbering 
2,500, came from the United States in order to 
subjugate the people and annex their coveted terri- 
tory. To oppose the invader, he had 300 regulars, 
400 militia, and 600 Indians, under his command. 
Uesistance having been deemed hopeless, he had been 
instructed to fall back upon Montreal. He deter- 
mined, if possible, to strike a blow before retiring. 
But it was doubtful whether the militia would 
engage in the hazardous enterprise. Parading them 
before the Court-house in York, he addressed them 
from the steps, stating what his own desire was, and 
adding that those men who were ready to volunteer 
in so desperate a service would take one pace to the 
front. The four companies simultaneously advanced 
one pace, and gave three cheers for their Chief. 
How well he commanded them, and how admirably 
they followed him, is a story which is familiar to all 
readers of Canadian history. When he fell mortally 
wounded, his last words were, " Push on, brave York 
volunteers." His death was nearly as serviceable 
as his life in inspiring men, fighting in defence of 
their liberties and their homes, to resist the enemy 
with a resolution which had its reward. The battle 
of Queenstown Heights, in which Brock lost his life, 
Hke others which preceded and followed it, was as 
great a pohtical blunder as the attack of the British 
troops upon Lexington and Concord, or the contest 



A TRIP THKOUGH CANADA. 211 

at Bunker Hill. Every schoolboy in Ontario is 
tauglit how his forefathers boldly and successfully 
withstood the onslaught of the forces of the United 
States upon a "free, a loyal, and a contented people." 
If the Government of the United States had deter- 
mined upon a method to render the annexation of 
Canada almost impossible, they could not have suc- 
ceeded in accomplishing their object more effectually 
than by trying to conquer Canada in 1776 and 1812, 
and by failing to prevent the infamous Fenian raids 
in our day. 

A political blunder, still less defensible, was the 
emphatic refusal of the United States Government to 
reimburse Canada for the damao^es sustained durino- 
the Fenian raids, at the very time that the same 
Government demanded an apology for and a reference 
to arbitration of the Alabama claims. I do not 
wonder that the Canadians should consider them- 
selves the victims of high-handed dealing. The 
Treaty of Washington was a gross injustice in their 
eyes. Their grievances, though dormant, are not 
dead; the bad spirit which has been created bodes 
ill for the future. They reasonably argued that the 
injury which they had sustained was obvious and un- 
questionable. They remembered how readily their 
Government paid the losses incurred when St. Al- 
ban's was plundered. It would have cost the Govern- 
ment of the United States very little to conci- 
liate the Canadians, and it was an error in tactics, 
not only to refuse them the material compensation 
to which they had a just claim, but even to refrain 
from expressing those words of good fellowship 
which not only salve over many sins of omission, 
but also help to convert foes into allies. 

p 2 



212 COLUMBIA AND TAXADA. 

After having endured broiling heat in a railway 
carriage from Niagara Falls, it was a welcome change 
to sail under an awnino^ in a steamer throuo-h the 
cool breeze upon Lake Ontario, A stoppage is 
made at Niagara, a pleasant place of summer resort 
for Canadians. This was originally the capital of 
Upper Canada. When Mr. Weld saw it in 1796, it 
contained seventy dwellings, a gaol, a Court-house, 
and a Legislative Assembly. It was then called 
Newark; it had previously borne the names of 
Lenox and Nassau. Upon Toronto becoming the 
capital, this place was again known by the name 
which was first given to it, a name which it has 
preserved ever since. Before we had traversed half 
the distance across the Lake, the air became so cool 
that an overcoat was a comfort. There was nothing 
to vary the prospect, excepting here and there the 
white sails of a schooner and the smoking funnel of 
a steam-boat. Indeed, it was difficult to believe that 
this vast sheet of water was but a Lake. Compared 
wdth the Lakes of Constance and Geneva it is a sea ; 
the area of the Sea of Marmora is smaller by 800 
square miles ; yet Lake Ontario is of but limited 
extent, its area being 6,000 square miles, when com- 
pared with such inland seas as Lake Michigan and 
Lake Superior, the area of the former being 12,600, 
and of the latter 22,400 square miles. When the 
wind blows and the angry waves are crested with 
foam, it is scarcely possible for the best-skilled sailor 
to distinguish, either by appearance or sensation, 
between such a piece of water as this and the open 
and apparently limitless deep. Reflections of this 
class are abruptly terminated when the Custom- 
House officer comes to examine the luggage. 



A TRIP THROUGH CANADA. 213 

I am not a smuo^gler by profession. However 
congenial such a pursuit may have been to Dirk 
Hatteraick, it has never had any charms for me. 
Moreover, I am unable to draw the line between 
stealing and smuggHng, or to regard a smuggler as 
any better than a vulgar thief. I fear, however, that 
I am an exception. Travellers on the continents of 
Europe and America are treated as suspected smug- 
glers. I told the Canadian Custom-House officer 
that I had no more intention of introducing any- 
thing into Canada surreptitiously than of marrying 
my grandmother, and that, even if I entertained so 
wicked a thought, I should be unaware w^hat to 
select. Of course he did not believe me. He ran- 
sacked my luggage with greater thoroughness, 
thinking, no doubt, that my protestation of inno- 
cence was only a mask to deceive him. Nor can he 
be blamed. His official belief is that a traveller's 
chief end is to smuggle, and that his business is to 
thwart this knavery. Certainly he performed his 
duty with unswerving vigilance. The rule at home 
is much more sensible, the officers at our seaports 
being ordered to examine the luggage of those 
persons only who excite their suspicion, or to con- 
tent themselves with choosing one article out of a 
passenger's luggage for inspection. It is on the 
same rational principle that a coast-guardsman does 
not board every passing vessel in quest of contra- 
band goods, and that a policeman does not take 
every person in the street into custody when he is 
on the look-out for a criminal. In Canada, however, 
it is thought necessary to follow the course I have 
indicated, and certainly I can bear testimony to the 
minuteness with which the officer on board the City 



214 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

of Toronto examined the luggage, and to tlie de- 
termination he evinced to subject both himself and 
the passengers to much unnecessary trouble. An 
unanswerable reason against over-strictness on the 
part of the Customs authorities, is the fact that 
nearly every article of comm.erce is dearer in the 
Repubhc than in the Dominion. I did not see any 
discoveries made by the energetic officer on board, 
and I was almost sorry to think that his toil had 
been fruitless. It is but fair to add that he per- 
formed his thankless task with a courtesy which did 

him credit. 

Lake Ontario is 65 miles wide, at the broadest 
part, and 180 miles long. In mid-lake, the breeze 
was'chilhng; but, as we neared the Canadian shore, 
the heat resembled the blast of a furnace. The 
lofty spire of St. James's Cathedral is the first object 
which is remarked by a spectator. Quite as con- 
spicuous is the cloud of smoke which overhangs the 
houses. This is due to the chimneys of several 
manufactories. No law prohibits a manufacturer 
from polluting the air with volumes of dense smoke, 
an omission which, in the interest of health even 
more than for the sake of appearance, ought to be 
repaired. When Lord Palmerston was Home 
Secretary, he distinguished himself by persuading 
Parliament to pass an Act forbidding the unnecessary 
formation of smoke; the result in London has been 
remarkable. Formerly, the manufactories on the 
south side of the Thames used to resemble small 
volcanoes in their smokiest stage ; now, the emission 
of smoke from a chimney-stalk is an exception which 
m-eets with prompt punishment. In consequence of 
the absence of smoke some flowers thrive and bloom 



A TRIP THROUGH CANADA. 215 

in the Temple Gardens nearly as well as they do in 
Devonshire, whereas, before this beneficent Act was in 
operation, no flower could flourish there. Moreover, 
the manufacturer is the gainer, as his furnaces con- 
sume less fuel. The legislators of Ontario would do 
well to profit by this lesson. A spacious bay affords 
shelter to the shipping at Toronto. An island, on 
which a few trees grow, and on which there are a few 
houses, as well as a lighthouse and the waterworks, 
lies on the outer side of this bay. Seen from a 
distance, this island resembles one in the Pacific 
fringed with palm-trees. On nearer approach, the 
aspect is less attractive. 

Toronto was founded in the spring of 1794 by 
General Simcoe, and was named York, a name which 
was changed in 1834 to that which it now bears, 
being one given to the spot by the Indians, and 
signifying in their tongue " the place of meeting." 
Its progress was not very rapid at first. During 
the war which the United States waged between 
1812 and 1815 it was occupied by the troops of that 
country, and its public buildings were burnt to the 
ground. This was done by the express orders of 
the United States Government, the declared purpose 
being that the innocent inhabitants of Upper Canada 
might be made to sufier as severely as possible. 
Of late, Toronto has grown very fast, and has risen 
very high in wealth and importance. Not long 
before the beginning of the present century, the site 
of this city was the abode of two Indian families ; in 
1817, the population numbered 1,200; in 1850, it 
numbered 25,000; it is now nearly 70,000. As a 
commercial emporium, Toronto has become a for- 
midable rival to Montreal. It is the starting-place 



216 COLUMBIA. AND CANADA. 

for three trunk-lines of rail; the Grand Trunk, the 
Great Western, and the Northern of Canada. During 
the summer months, there is daily commumcation 
with Montreal by steamer, while a considerable 
amount of trafi&c is carried on with the Lake towns 
by sailing vessels. Indeed, Toronto is to the 
Dominion, what Chicago is to the United States. 
The farmers of the West send their produce for ship- 
ment, and they come here to make their purchases. 
Toronto is the seat of the Courts of Law, of two Uni- 
versities, and of the Provincial Legislature. The lead- 
ing newspaper in the Dominion appears here. The 
pubhshers who do the largest business in the country 
have their offices in this city. As a mart for com- 
merce, a place of business, a hive of manufactures, a 
city where the arts which soften and adorn hfe are 
cultivated and held in honour, a centre whence 
radiate pohtical and social ideas which influence the 
entire Canadian division of America, Toronto not 
only justifies its position as the capital of the 
Province of Ontario, but is beyond all question one 
of the most truly representative cities in the great 
Dominion of Canada. 

I was surprised to see how many changes had 
occurred in this city during the few years which 
have elapsed since my last visit. The rows of new 
warehouses and merchants' offices in the street front- 
inP- the bay are equal in structural effect and 
magnitude to any which are to be found m North 
America. In the suburbs, large numbers of villas 
have been built for the accommodation of merchants 
who have enriched themselves. When Captain 
Marryat was here inl837,he declared that "the houses 
and stores were not to be compared with those of 



A TRIP THROUGH CANADA. 217 

the American towns opposite." Byway of explana- 
tion, lie added that " the Englishman had built 
according to his means, the American according to 
his expectations." Now that the private and public 
buildings are quite as fine as those of any city in the 
United States it is clear, if Captain Marryat's explana- 
tion hold good, that the means of the citizens of 
Toronto are as vast as the expectations of their neigh- 
bours. Not only was I struck with the new ware- 
houses and villas and with the imposing new Post 
Office, but I was also impressed with the progress in 
luxury shown by the two handsome Club houses which 
have recently been erected, and which, alike in 
external effect and internal arrangement, would do 
credit to Pall Mall or St. James's Street. 



218 



XIV. 

THE PROVINCE OF ONTVRIO. 



Fenimoue CooPEii, the Walter Scott of the United 
States, who threw a halo of romantic interest over 
the Red Indian of North America at the time when 
his power was departing along with the primeTal 
forest which had been his home, wrote another book 
which once attracted as much notice as any of liis 
novels. It was entitled " Notions of the Ame- 
ricans picked up by a travelling Bachelor, was 
professedly from the pen of an English travel er 
in the United States, and was published at Phi a- 
delphia in 1828. Cooper there asked:-" Wliy 
is not the fertile Province of Upper Canada as 
much distinguished for its advancement m all 
the useful arts of life as the States of the neigh- 
bourino- Republic? and why, under so niany phy- 
sical disadvantages, are the comparative y sterile 
and rocky States of New England remarkable for 
those very qualities amid their own flourishing and 
healthful sisters ?" The answer given to t us query 
is that the inhabitants of the States which excited 
Cooper's admiration are notable for an " intelhgence 
which, according to him, is lacking in the British 
Province. How far this may have been true fifty 
years ago, I cannot tell; but I am certain that the 



THE PROVINCE OP ONTARIO. 219 

Province now called Ontario has not been hindered, 
by an actual deficiency of intelligence in the inhabi- 
tants, from making as rapid progress, in all the use- 
ful arts of life, as any State in New England. Un- 
fortunately, it is customary in the United States to 
sneer at everything Canadian, and to treat the great 
Dominion, which comprises half the North American 
continent, as a subject of pity or contempt. If, 
however, the Dominion were really contemptible, less 
notice would be taken of its doings. Unless I 
entirely misinterpret and misrepresent public senti- 
ment in the United States, there is a latent fear lest 
the progress of Canada should falsify a good many 
unfavourable prophecies and disappoint a good many 
unneighbourly expectations. 

With the dogmatic and depreciatory statement 
which Cooper made public in 1828, 1 think it instruc- 
tive to contrast the verdict which a great and unpre- 
judiced New Englander passed in 1859 upon the 
capital of this maligned Province. In a letter written 
to the Honourable Edward Everett, in that year, 
Mr. Ticknor says : — " Toronto is much more of a 
place, and there are more cultivated people there 
than I had any notion of. They have a good college 
there for certain purposes, but the province has 
another, on a larger and more liberal scale. They 
are just completing for it a very large stone building 
— three sides of a quadrangle — which is a finer build- 
ing and better adapted to its purposes than any 
similar one in the United States; I suspect a finer 
building than we have for any purpose whatever, 
except the Capitol at Washington. It is in the 
Norman style of architecture." This is not very 
enthusiastic praise ; most of it being expended upon 



220 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

a building. Yet it is significant for two reasons. 
The first is that Mr. Ticknor was unprepared to find 
any cultivated people in Toronto, and the second 
is that he was astonished to learn that those per- 
sons whom he had heard others deprec-a e, had 
advanced so far in " the useful arts of life, a to 
make splendid provision for the ^«S^^^\^'^'^'^f°l 
education. With every desire to be impartial, I have 
sicrnally failed in perceiving a distinct want ot 
"Intelligence " in my Canadian brethren a« compared 
with what prevails among the citizens of the btates 
of New England. If this were ever true the trans- 
formation has been complete. Let it be admitted 
that there was a time in the annals of what used to 
be called Upper Canada, when the chief care of eveiy 
inhabitant was to provide food for himself and his 
family : the explanation of this, however, disposes ot 
the sneer of Cooper, and does no credit to his country- 



men. 



Some of the best blood of the settlers in the pro- 
vince of Ontario flowed in the veins of the United 
Empire Loyalists, and still flows in those of their 
successors. Having been expelled from their an- 
cestral possessions in the United States, they found 
a new and undisturbed home in the Provmce over 
which the flag of Great Britain waved. The country 
was then a wilderness, and existence was a toil, ihe 
settlers were inspired with an idea which ennobled 
and nerved them amidst their suff'erings and labours. 
They had been forced to leave their native homes 
because they would not help or sanction the disrup- 
tion of an Empire which glorified and widened the 
■dominion of their race, even though it were indis- 
putable that its temporary rulers had tailed m 



THE PROVINCE OE ONTARIO. 221 

understanding and fulfilling their duties. It is now 
admitted, when too late, that these loyalists were 
men of high principle and lofty aspirations, and 
none regrets their punishment more sincerely than 
the descendants of those persons who thought them- 
selves the friends of their country in inflicting it. 
Few things are more certain than the fact that, if 
the United Empire Loyalists had been suffered to 
remain in the United States, the foundation of 
Upper Canada would never have been laid, and that 
the annexation of this portion of the continent to 
the United States would have been effected soon 
after the consolidation of the Republic. I can easily 
imagine that, when this century began, the Canadian 
people would seem backward in the eyes of the critic 
who made no allowance for their difficulties. At 
that period a Royal Mendicant, on entering one of 
their towns, might have been subjected to the dis- 
comfiture of the one of whom it is told, in Mr. Lane's 
version of the " Arabian Nights," that, having arrived 
at a town poor and friendless, he was kindly enter- 
tained by a compassionate tailor. After the latter 
had fed and lodged him for three days, he said, 
" Dost thou not know any trade by which to make 
gain ? " The Mendicant, who was a king's son, 
answered, " I am acquainted with the law, a student 
of science, a writer, and an arithmetician." The 
tailor told him that these things yielded no profit in 
that country, and advised the Mendicant " to take 
an axe and a rope and cut firewood in the desert, 
and so obtain his subsistence." Even now, although 
plenty of men who are learned in the law, who are 
students of science, who are writers, and excellent 
arithmeticians, find profitable occupation in Ontario, 



222 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

yet the surest way to earn a livelihood there is the 
old and simple one of wielding an axe or guiding a 

^^ When the recognition of the independence of the 
■United States of Aiiierica, and the conclusion of 
peace between the parent State and its great off- 
shoot were the subject of negotiation at Pans m 
1782, FrankUn included the cession of Canada and 
the Bermudas among the things which Great Britain 
ou^ht to perform, and which the Government he 
presented had a right to demand. Though he 
struggled vigorously to obtain a diplomatic victoi^% 
yet he was foiled by the determination o the Br ti.h 
Ministry to refuse even a hearing to claims which 
they regarded as alike inadmissible and preposterous 
The invasion of Canada was the first important act 
of aggression performed by the Congress of the 
Thirteen United Colonies ; another attempt to sub- 
jugate her was the motive, though not the pretext, 
for the Congress of the United States declaring 
war against Great Britain. While the freedom o 
Canada to guide her own destiny is still guaranteed 
by connexion with the Motherland, Canadians gene- 
rally believe that the hope of adding this magnifi- 
cent piece of territory to the Republic continues to 
animate the citizens of the United States The 
avowal is not made so often or in the same tone as 

in former days. 

If a speaker were now to address Congress on 
this topic, be would probably be more measured 
tban Mr Clay, wbo declared m that august Assembly 
__" We bave tbe Canadas as mucb under our com- 
mand as Great Britain bas tbe ocean I would take 
tbe wbole Continent from tbem, and ask tbem no 



THE PKOVLVCE OF ONTARIO. 223 

favours. God has given us the power and the 
means." At a later date another patriot, whose 
reputation as an orator is not quite equal to that 
of Mr. Clay, but whom some persons regard as a 
representative man, undertook in the Senate of the 
United States to compel Canada to enter the Union, 
and to perform this task with the aid of a regiment 
of Michigan militia. Mr. Senator Chandler's power 
to execute such a feat was questioned by many of 
his countrymen, while his admirers maintained that 
he was not the man to allow doubts or modesty to 
hinder him from indulging in speculations or pro- 
mises. His fanfaronade subserved one useful pur- 
pose. Till he made this offer, no exact parallel 
could have been found to General Grant, the fervent 
and indiscreet supporter of Lord North, who boasted 
in the House of Commons that he could easily march 
through the rebellious Colonies of America at the 
head of a small force and settle all grievances by 
overawing the aggrieved. The fate of Burgoyne 
and Cornwallis enables us to understand how General 
Grant would have fared had his foolish vauntins: 
been put to the test. Mr, Chandler has mercifully 
been preserved from failure by the absence of an 
opportunity to act the entire part of Captain 
Bobadil. 

Charles Sumner, a statesman of a very different 
stamp from Mr. Chandler, though not always his 
superior in temperate utterance, told the convention 
of the Massachusetts E^epublican party, held at 
Worcester in 1869, that the transfer of Canada was 
neither so simple nor easy as had been supposed. 
He wished it to happen, but he did not expect the 
immediate fulfilment of his wish. He thought, how- 



224 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

ever, that, at a clay not very far distant, the invita- 
tion made by Frankhn, as Commissioner for the 
Continental Congress, and seconded by the troops 
of Arnold and Montgomery, would gladly be ac- 
cepted. Mr. Sumner added,—" Long ago the Con- 
tinental Congress passed away, living only in its 
deeds. Long ago the great Commissioner rested 
from his labours to become a star in our firmament. 
But the invitation survives not only in the archives 
of our history, but in all American hearts, constant 
and continuing as when first issued, believing as we 
do that such a union, in the fulness of time, with 
the goodwill of the Mother Country and the accord 
of both parties, must be the harbinger of infinite 
good. Nor do I doubt that this will be accom- 
plished." He knew that the Reciprocity Treaty, 
which the United States had abrogated, was an 
arrangement which the Canadians desired to renew ; 
he predicted that it would " be transfigured in union, 
while our plural unit is strengthened and extended." 
I need not discuss this forecast of the future ; 
sufi&ce it to state that there are no visible tokens of 
the Canadians being inclined to hasten or help the 
fulfilment of Charles Sumner's aspirations and pro- 
phecy. They are the best judges of what would 
prove for their advantage. Even if they thought fit 
to treat with indifference the passionate and bel- 
ligerent utterances of Clay and Mr. Chandler, and to 
regard the calmer views of Charles Sumner as the 
expressions of an amiable enthusiast, they might cite 
the opinions of other citizens of the United States 
in testimony of the difficulty of dwelling in poli- 
tical amity with a people who stigmatize them as 
unworthy members of human society. Men who are 



THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO. 225 

neither accepted statesmen nor professional poli- 
ticians have passed a condemnation upon the inha- 
bitants of Canada which it is hard to forget or ex- 
plain away. Mr. Thoreau may be numbered among 
them. He was a man of fine nature, — an Emerson 
of the open-air. In 1850, he paid a short visit to 
Canada, and, in rendering an account of his impres- 
sions, he remarked that, in Montreal, " On every 
prominent ledge you could see England's hands 
holding the Canadas, and I judged by the redness of 
her knuckles that she would soon have to let go." 
This transcendental utterance either meant that 
England retained hold of Canada by main force, or 
else that she maintained her place there till it pleased 
the United States to dispossess her. The one sup- 
position is utterly incorrect, and the other is open 
to serious argument. At Quebec, he moralized in a 
strain which I leave it to the Canadians to appre- 
ciate : — " A private man was not worth so much in 
Canada as in the United States ; and if your wealth 
in any measure consists in manliness, in originality, 

and independence, you had better stay here 

I suspect that a poor man who is not servile is a 
much rarer phenomenon there and in England than 
in the Northern United States." ^ From Cooper to 
Thoreau and from Clay to Sumner the language 
used by notable citizens of the United States con- 
cerning Canada, is not more complimentary than 
that which they apply to Mexico. 

Considering that there is an unfriendliness on the 
part of the United States towards her northern 
neighbour as censurable as that which was made a 

' "A Yankee in Canada," by H. D. Thoreau, pp. 17, 76, 77, 



226 COLUMBIA AND CANAFtA. 

charge against Great Britain in the official state- 
ment of the case of the Republic respecting the 
Alabama claims, I cannot understand how the peace- 
ful and harmonious incorporation of the Dommion 
can be seriously entertained, as an early con- 
tino-ency, by any clear-headed member of the Con- 
gress of the Repubhc. During my present visit, i 
was informed that jealousy of the United States was 
an increasing quantity throughout Canada, while 
confidence in the capacity and future greatness ot 
the Dominion was extending in a remarkable degree, 
l^ormerly, a few men were pointed out to me who 
beheved that annexation to the neighbourmg Re- 
public was only a question of time. But a tew 
years have elapsed since then, and most of these 
men have either recanted their opimons, or else 
found it politic to conceal them. The scheme of 
confederation is knitting Canada together as closely 
as confederation has bound the thirteen States ot 
America into a nation. To be a member of the 
ParHament at Ottawa is an ambition as satisfying as 
to be a member of the Congress which once met at 
Philadelphia and now meets at Washington, ihe 
Dominion Parhament legislates for a territory much 
vaster than that over which the earher American 
Congresses exercised jurisdiction. Canadian legis- 
lators have problems to consider and solve as im- 
portant as any which occupy and perplex the legis- 
lators of the United States. When the centenary 
of the confederation of Canada is celebrated, the 
population and power of the Dominion may not be 
inferior to those of the United States when the 
areat anniversary of the BepubHc was the subject of 
general congratulation and rejoicing. Certainly, 



THE PROVINCE OP ONTARIO. 227 

in natural resources, the Canadian section of America 
lacks nothing which the United States section pos- 
sesses, and I have not seen it proved that political 
aptitude and national opportunity are less on the 
one side of the border than on the other. 

Bach Province of the Dominion has its local Legis- 
lature. In the Canadian Articles of Confederation, 
the rule which governs the Constitution of the 
United States is reversed. The latter reserves to 
Congress the power to control those matters only 
which are specifically set forth, all the questions not 
so reserved falling within the jurisdiction of the 
several States. In Canada, on the other hand, 
everything which is not specifically reserved to the 
several Provinces falls within the jurisdiction of 
Parliament. Thus the Canadian Parliament is com- 
paratively a more powerful body than the United 
States Congress ; it can exercise an all-pervading 
authority without dread of finding an insurmount- 
able obstacle in the rights of a local Assembly. An 
Act of Congress could not have abolished slavery 
unless special power to pass one had first been 
granted by an amendment to the Constitution, made 
with the consent of three fourths of the States. In 
a similar case, an Act of the Dominion Parliament 
would effect the desired object, provided that the 
Crown did not exercise the right of veto. Subject 
to this limitation, which in practice is found to be 
no check upon beneficent legislation, the Canadian 
Parliament yields to but one legislative body in the 
extent and comprehensiveness of its jurisdiction. 
The manner in which this Parliament is constituted 
and performs its duty, affords an attractive study 
for every student of political science. Even the 

Q 2 



223 COLrMBTA AND CANADA. 

citizens of the United States might learn something 
by observing the working of this free constitution 
of their neighbours. Yet, unless Cooper has dis- 
paraged them, they are unlikely to profit by the 
opportunity:— "He knew no people that trouble 
themselves less about the political concerns of other 
nations than his countrymen. It may be vanity, 
but they think they have httle to learn m this 
particular, except of themselves." 

When the Province of Ontario formed its Legis- 
lature, it was determined with equal boldness and 
wisdom to constitute a House of Assembly, com- 
posed of a single Chamber. In the Province of 
Quebec, on the contrary, the Legislature consists of 
a Council and an Assembly, just as, in each State 
and Territory of the American Union, there is a 
Senate and a House of Representatives. The Par- 
liament of Great Britain is the model which has 
been generally copied, ahke in the Old and the New 
World, although the reason which prevailed when 
thatParhament obtained its present form has ceased 
to operate on either side of the Atlantic. Franklm 
was too astute and clear-headed not to perceive this, 
and he endeavoured to persuade the framers of the 
Constitution of his country to provide a single 
Chamber for legislative purposes. The State ot 
Pennsylvania adopted this plan, and abandoned it 
chiefly because the State did not like to appear 
singular. The States of Vermont and New Hamp- 
shire followed the example of Pennsylvania. In 
former days, it might have been difficult to induce 
the Three Estates of England to meet together 
under one roof and deliberate in common, and 
custom has consecrated the existing practice m the 



THE PEOVINOE OF ONTAEIO. 229 

ejes of the nation. But in the United States or 
Canada it was easy to try another and a simpler 
arrangement, and the Province of Ontario merits 
praise not only for having made the experiment, but 
for having given it a fair trial. Ten years will soon 
have elapsed since the Ontario House of Assembly 
held its first sitting. Proposals have been made to 
add an Upper House, so as to give employment to 
an extra number of representatives; but the in- 
habitants of the Province, by refusing to entertain 
these suggestions, have shown their good sense. 
In truth, the single Chamber has succeeded as well 
as its advocates could have desired. The Honour- 
able Eupert AVells, the present Speaker, told me 
that the members exhibit by their conduct how 
conscious they are of the responsibility which de- 
volves upon them. ]^o undue haste is manifested 
m passing a measure which has been the subject of 
grave doubt or discussion. Of course, the majority 
have a greater power in such an Assembly than they 
would have in one where their decisions are open to 
revision or reversal; but, because the vote of the 
majority cannot be reviewed in this way, the deci- 
sion is arrived at under a due sense of responsibiHty 
and after greater consideration than it might other- 
wise receive. Measures which it would be rash to 
approve or condemn, without careful deliberation, 
are generally postponed from one session to another. 
Indeed, this experiment ought to be watched with 
the greater interest because it may be fraught with 
important issues. There is no reason why such 
a legislative body should not prove equally ad- 
vantageous elsewhere. In such bodies as the Con- 
gress of the United States, the Parliament of the 



230 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

United Kiugdom and the Parliament of Canada, one 
Chamber is the practical depositary of power. At 
"Washington, the Senate is the ruling influence ; at 
Westminster or Ottawa, the House of Commons 
is the place which an ambitious man desires to 
enter, and in which a great Minister can attain his 
objects. France, not being satisfied with a National 
Assembly, must needs create a Chamber of Deputies 
and a Senate, in order that the one might balance 
the other; so that a measure voted by the one 
should be rejected by the other, and that the public 
should be provided with unhealthy excitement by 
beholding a constant antagonism between the two 
Chambers, and an occasional colhsion between them. 
Nothing of the kind can happen in Toronto, while 
the quality of legislation there is not inferior to 
that at Versailles, or even to that in the adjoinmg 
Province of Quebec. 

It has been estimated that there are more politics 
to the square mile in Canada than in any other por- 
tion of the habitable globe. Contending parties 
struggle here with an energy which causes the cool- 
headed bystander to marvel exceedingly. What 
puzzles him is to ascertain and understand the fun- 
damental principles of the opposing parties. He 
hears one man denounced as a Conservative and 
another as a Reformer or a Grit : should he ask what 
mischief is averted by the one and what change is 
contemplated by the other, he asks in vain, unless 
he be more fortunate than myself. 1 ao not refer 
to purely local topics. An inteUigent Vestry or 
Town Council can easily be thrown into a fever by 
the consideration of the best way in which to pave a 
street or feed a pauper. It is fortunate that such a 



• THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO. 231 

topic as either should afford a vent to the superfluous 
energy of my esteemed fellow-citizens when they act 
in a public capacity. But the truly national politics 
of Canada are neither trivial nor restricted in scope. 
They concern the welfare of a continent vaster than 
Europe, and the well-being of a people with every 
aptitude for progress and distinction. How best to 
develope the resources of that continent, and advance 
the happiness of its inhabitants, is a problem that 
men of all shades of opinion should unite in solving ; 
it is one which might fairly tax the greatest minds 
of the age. Yet, as a matter of fact, the chief 
object of the politicians with whom I have conversed 
seems to be the exaltation of the Eight Honom^able 
Sir John Macdonald and the discomfiture of the 
Honourable George Brown, or the debasement of the 
former and the advancement of the latter. Su* John 
Macdonald is the head of the Conservatives, and the 
Honourable George Brown, though not the head of 
the Ministry, is undoubtedly the mainstay of the 
Reformers. To the persistent and able efforts of 
the latter a measure of real reform is attributable, 
the representation of the Provinces in proportion to 
their population. Both are entitled to praise for the 
accomplishment of the greatest step in the annals 
and progress of Canada, the formation of the Domi- 
nion. A bloody war with Great Britain was the 
prelude to a similar triumph in the United States 
section of America ; in Canada, the grand result was 
brought about by many excellent newspaper articles, 
by several convincing speeches, and by an Act of the 
Imperial Parliament. Now that Confederation has 
been attained, every patriotic Canadian ought to be 
at once a genuine Conservative and a thorough- 



232 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

going Eeformer, ougM to be determined to conserve 
what he enjoys and glories in, and reform whatever 
interferes with the permanence and value of his hen- 
tage. Chief among indispensable reforms is the 
removal of the natural and surmountable impedi- 
ments to the development of this huge territory, 
with a view to render the vast and fertile prairies of 
the north-west easily accessible to the emigrant, and 
to knit together mth hnks of steel the Provmces 
which are traversed by the St. Lawrence, and washed 
by the Atlantic, with the Provinces which are tra- 
versed by the Saskatchewan, and washed by the 
Pacific. On such a question as this politicians ought 
to be of one mind, and ought to speak with an accor- 
dant voice. Yet, whether a Pacific Railway should 
be constructed, or how the work should be exe- 
cuted, is a question which has caused the fall of one 
Ministry, and has exposed its successor to merciless 
criticism and cavil. 

On another matter, which should not occasion 
marked diversity of opinion among people so en- 
hghtened as the Canadians, there is a discord which 
finds expression in the Press, on the platform, and 
in Parliament. It is still held to be an open and 
debatable question whether the unrestricted inter- 
change of commodities be a blessing or a curse, 
whether Free Trade be an absolute benefit or an 
utter delusion. In the United States it has been de- 
cided to make the consumers pay dearly for certain 
articles of necessity or luxury, in order that national 
industries might be established and subsidized, and 
that some manufacturers should become rich men. 
Many Canadians envy the United States manu- 



THE PEOVINCE OF ONTARIO. 233 

facturers, and think that they, too, would be envied 
in turn, if a policy of Protection were adopted and 
pursued. The Conservatives have staked their 
hopes of returning to office upon the advocacy of 
protection to every product of native industry, from 
the flour with which they bake their bread, to the 
sewing-machine with which they stitch their clothes. 
The Reformers used to trumpet forth, with com- 
mendable precision and unanimity, the advantages of 
a liberal tariff and unfettered trade; but their 
trumpet now gives an uncertain sound. Some of 
them think that much would be gained owing to the 
imposition of what they style incidental, but what I 
should term differential, protective duties, and mem- 
bers of both parties have declared that the farmers 
of Ontario would be richer were a duty levied on 
the flour imported into Canada proportioned to that 
levied on the flour exported to the United States 
from Canada. That some farmers in Canada would 
be temporary gainers by this is probable ; but it is 
unlikely that the people at large would be the better 
in the long-run, while it is certain that the inhabi- 
tants of the maritime Provinces would treat the 
proposed impost as a distinct injury to them. 

An article in the Toronto Globe, on this question, 
contained an extract from a speech delivered at 
Washington by Mr. Marshall, a representative from 
the State of Illinois, supplying a noteworthy picture 
of the difficulties with which a western farmer has 
to contend in the Union. Some exceptions were 
taken to a few details by the Afail, the lively and un- 
compromising rival of the Globe, but the relevancy 
of the statement, as a whole, cannot be challenged. 
Mr. Marshall told the House of Representatives that 



234 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

_•« The farmer starting to his work lias a shoe put 
on his horse with nails taxed at 67 per cent., driven 
by a hammer taxed at 54 per cent.; cnts a stick 
with a knife taxed 50 per cent. ; hitches his horse to 
a plough taxed 50 per cent., with chains taxed 67 
per cent. He returns to his home at night, and lays 
Ls wearied limbs on a sheet taxed 58 per cent and 
covers himself with a blanket that has paid 250 per 
cent He rises in the morning, puts on his humble 
flannel shirt, taxed 80 per cent. ; his coat taxed oO 
percent.; shoes taxed 35 per cent., and hat taxed 
70 per cent.; opens family worship with a Bible 
(nxed 25 per cent., and kneels to his God on a hum- 
b e carpet't.xed 150 per cent. He sits down to his 
humble' meal from a plate taxed 40 per cent., with 
knife and fork taxed 35 per cent. ; drinks his cup o 
coffee taxed 47 per cent., or tea 78 per cent.; season 
his food with salt taxed 100 per cent. ; pepper, 29 
Jrcent.; or spice, 379 per cent. He looks around 
upon his wife and children all taxed ,n the same way, 
Xs a chew of tobacco taxed at 100 per cent or 
ho-hts a cigar taxed 120 per cent., and then thanks 
f ars that he lives in the freest and best Govern- 
nent under heaven." Can any Canadian farmer 
-ifter reading this, really envy the privileges of his 
brotVer in the U;ited States? The former would 
soon be in the position of the latter, if the system of 
losing protective duties on his produce were once 
J°n The United States would not be easily 
checkmated. In playing this game of brag, or 
Serof beggar my neighbour, the older Gove n 
ment would prove more than a match foi the 

^"anifone which was prepared to make the greater 



THE PKOVINCE OF ONTAEIO. 235 

sacrifice would gain the day, and though victory 

would be defeat in disguise, yet this would matter little 

to those persons who held that they had achieved a 

nominal triumph. In the end, the Canadian farmer 

would be poorer than at the outset, because he would j 

have to give proportionately more for what he bought '1 

than he had obtained for what he sold. But such 

predictions have no terror for men who believe 

in Protection as the panacea for all the ills of 

industry. Tell them that it is a quack medicine, 

and they will reply, as is done hj many people, 

whom their charitable neighbours give credit for 

the possession of common sense, when they hear a 

quack medicine scoffed at, " That may be perfectly 

true, but after all there must be something in it, for 

it has effected many cures." They will cite the 

case of the Mother country as a conclusive answer 

to abstract reasoning, and say that Protection 

enriched her, and prepared the way for that system 

of Free-trade which is enriching her more than ever. 

Both in the United States and Canada, I have heard 

this repeated as if it were conclusive, and barred all 

further argument. Thus it is that one blunder 

engenders another, and that the evil which States 

have done is pregnant with mischief after they have 

learned to do well. Nothing can be more certain 

than that Protection was an incubus which depressed 

the energies of Great Britain for many a year, and 

that, had she shaken off the monster at an earlier 

day, she would have been still wealthier and more 

powerful now. It is erroneously supposed that the 

continuance of a protective system elsewhere is a 

serious loss to her, and the belief is common in the 

United States section of America, and is also enter- 



23 G COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

tained by a good n=any persons in the Canadian one 
tC a selfish desire to promote the ennchment of 
Grl B tain inspires Tu those of her sons .ho 
ad" ate the unrestricted interclK^nge of FO^- -d 
.manufactures. When a suspcon o^ *- ^^^'^J 
once entertained, it cannot be removed by argument. 
T ecale is analogous to that of the ^rerwhowa™ 
his son against indulging in excesses which may 
"en Us life, which will certainly emb. te^> , o 
wm cause him to feel regret, when, too late, that he 
had not been more prudent m h>s J"" • JJ^ ^ 
fancies that this is either an exaggeration or else 

ra his father is too -1^* *° ^"°- f ^^iTas 
himself. He sees, moreover, that his fathei has 
So a good old age, is highly respected, is very 
S nd sfems none the worse for any -a>-- -- 
committed in early life. He may even persuade hun- 
se'Tbat indulgence in youthful follies has been of 
some advantage to his father. He determines, then 
follow the bent of his inclination as a fu-e M o 

sssr^Tsrit-^^^^ 

iX sound and perfectly disinterested, he might be 
spared many disappointments, and become an fu 
member of society. What is true of -^^ luak is 
equally true of nations; nations, however, esent 
good advice even more angrily ^^--/fV^'fl^g 
fhey fancy that it must be designed to lo-eyhe r 
status in the world, and lessen their power of out- 

^tS,Te'mr;eason why new countries and 
colonies ^re attached to the Protective system ,s that 



THE PEOVINCE OF ONTARIO. 237 

they regard it as an indispensable condition for 
enabling them to command respect. When it is said in 
the United States, " Let us protect native industry," 
the meaniug is, let us uphold our nationality, make 
ourselves seli-sufiBciug, and strive to render the na- 
tions of Europe dependent upon us. A policy of ex- 
clusion was carried out with a rigour in Japan which 
can never be surpassed elsewhere ; since the Japanese 
have reversed it, they have lost nothing either in 
power or in the world's esteem. In Canada, the cry 
of Protection for native industry means " Let us build 
up a nationality and become something different from 
our neighbours across the frontier and our brethren 
across the ocean." Here is a problem which is not 
to be solved by reasoning. A Free Trader, in the 
fullest and truest sense, desires the happiness of the 
greatest number; his sympathies are co-extensive 
with mankind. A Protectionist is satisfied if he can 
promote the material well-being of those among 
whom he was born; his sympathies are bounded by 
his country. Until the sentiment of the brotherhood 
of mankind shall prevail among a given people, and 
the ideal at which they aim be the general good of 
the world, it is hopeless to expect that they will 
exchange Protection for Free Trade, provided they 
believe that any personal and local gain is obtainable 
by discouraging the industry of all the rest of the 
human race. The sum of many conversations on 
this subject both in the United States and Canada is 
that Great Britain incurs as much censure and ex- 
cites as much envy for preaching Free Trade now as 
she did for practising Protection a century ago, and 
the circumstance that she adds example to precept 
is considered an aggravation of her present offence. 



238 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

Sufficient attention lias not been given to a desire 
which has been expressed for the formal recognition 
of Canadian nationality. Much has been written 
about Canadian loyalty, which is certainly very 
exuberant and thoroughly sincere. I believe that if 
the Queen were to visit Canada, the popular demon- 
stration there would be astounding in its fervour. 
Yet to confound this loyalty, with blind admiration 
for the Motherland, is to commit a great and 
common mistake. Everything done in the parent 
State is followed in Canada with an interest 
which is neither felt nor professed in the United 
States; but, let any attempt be made to affect 
Canada in a way deemed unfair and prejudicial, 
and there will be no hesitation about objecting with 
remarkable emphasis. In truth, the loyalty of 
Canadians closely resembles that of those among 
their forefathers who suffered for being United 
Empire Loyalists. They are justly proud of the 
political system of which they form a part. In their 
eyes, that system is identified with stable government 
and general prosperity; it guarantees to them an 
amount of personal freedom, combined with personal 
security, such as no other system can give in greater 
measure. Their loyalty is intensified by the convic- 
tion that their own wishes, duly expressed, are the 
only limits to any demands they might prefer to 
the parent State for a change in their relation to it. 

Many of the younger men are more anxious than 
their seniors to take a step which, without rendering 
Canada wholly independent, would lead to her being 
regarded as a nation. They have a notion that 
their happiness would be increased were the land 
they live in represented at foreign Courts. Among 



THE PEOVINCE OP ONTAIilO. 239 

tlie efforts they have made to make " Canada First" 
at once a cry and a policy, the foundation of a 
weekly journal called the Nation had a place, which 
was shared by an excellent periodical, the Canadian 
Monthly. The magazine has lived for several years, 
and will, I hope, survive many more ; but the journal 
succumbed, after a brilliant career of about three 
years. A thesis which both have upheld with great 
power of argument and variety of illustration is that, 
in the present condition of the Dominion, the ordi- 
nary party divisions are unmeaning and the prevail- 
ing aims are illogical ; that, since Confederation 
was effected, the former party objects have ceased 
to have any weight ; that statesmen ought now to 
strive, not for the mere possession of office, but for 
the advancement of the country as a whole, and for 
its consolidation as a political unit. In other words, 
the purpose is to promote a feeling of nationality at 
the expense of provincialism, to make men who are 
of French descent, and who speak the language of 
France, or who are the descendants of parents of 
English, Irish, or Scottish birth, think less of the 
land and nation from which their fathers came than 
of the country in which their fathers have found a 
happy home, and where they have seen the light of 
day, Canada being the chief object of their love, and 
her interests having the first place in their endea- 
vours. The design is not unworthy of encourage- 
ment and countenance from all well-wishers of this 
magnificent division of America, even though the 
ultimate object of those persons who urge its adop- 
tion might be open to criticism. The leading jour- 
nal of Canada has energetically combated the 
notions of men who assuredly merit a considerate 



240 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

and attentive hearing. My own desire is tliat tlie 
two systems of government in North America 
should produce their best results. They differ in 
form rather than in substance ; yet, as the world is 
influenced by forms nearly as much as by abstract 
propositions, the difference is not unimportant. 
Some citizens of the United States were almost 
struck dumb with amazement when the Earl of 
Dufferin, the deservedly popular Governor-General 
of Canada, told them at Chicago that the Canadians 
were essentially a Democratic people. They had 
thought that no one living under what they style 
Monarchical institutions, or rather none who do not 
yield allegiance to the Constitution of the United 
States, can be actually free to exercise the maximum 
of self-government. They little know how slightly 
the Monarchical system of Great Britain corresponds 
with monarchy in its worst and most common mani- 
festation, and how little real difference there is 
between the Government of which they are proud 
and that which constitutes the essence of the British 
monarchy. They talk of the sovereignty of the 
people as the corner-stone of their institutions, and 
they seem unaware that the sovereignty of the peo- 
ple has been the ruling maxim and guiding star of 
leading British statesmen from the earliest days down 
to those in which we live. Not even in the United 
States do the people play the part of sovereigns 
more thoroughly than in the United Kingdom. It 
is true that the popular election of the head of the 
State is not observed in the same manner now as in 
the early days of English history, and that the elec- 
tion of a dynasty by Act of Parliament has super- 
seded the custom of ancient times. It is true, also. 



THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO. 241 

that the British Constitution as it now exists, or 
rather as it is now interpreted, is very different from 
what it was supposed to be when a Henry or a 
Charles, a James or a George invoked its sanction 
in order to enforce his own designs against the 
wishes of the people. What has survived and tri- 
umphed is the principle which is its essence and the 
maxim which it inculcates, the principle that free- 
dom is the birthright of the people, the maxim that 
self-government is their duty. All that is best in 
the Constitution of the United States forms a part 
of the Constitution of Great Britain. 

The Canadians are conscious of these things, and 
they know that they have good reason to admire 
and glory in the form of government under which 
they enjoy freedom. They know also, that if all the 
colonists of America had been dealt with accordino- 
to the true theory of the British Constitution, Patrick 
Henry and Samuel Adams might have declaimed in 
vain, and the contest for the independence of the 
United States would never have been provoked. 
Yet I fear that some young Canadians are inclined 
to indulge in ideas which have the drawback of being 
opposed alike to sound reason and the spirit of the 
age. If their desires were fulfilled, they would take 
a step backward in the science of government. What 
would they gain by having a Minister at Washing- 
ton and at each of the capitals of Europe ? This 
might give them the dignity of a nation, and it 
would also increase their taxes. In these days of 
intercommunication by steam and telegraph. Minis- 
ters Plenipotentiary and Ambassadors are ana- 
chronisms, and all nations would save much and 
lose nothing by abolishing legations and embassies. 



242 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

A Consul can do whatever is requisite ; a Minister or 
Ambassador is but a costly ornament, and a new 
country ought to have the shrewdness to prefer 
what is useful to that which is purely ornamental. 
This may be accounted a matter of detail. Let it be 
granted that the new nation would dispense with 
representatives at foreign Courts. What else would 
it gain ? A flag ? The Canadians have got one. A 
distinctive name ? They enjoy that also. A Gover- 
nor or President elected by themselves ? It would 
not be impossible to obtain that without battling for 
independence. An army ? They have got as well- 
organized a defensive force as Switzerland, and a 
military academy for the training of officers on as 
good a model as that at Sandhurst. A fleet ? Their 
mercantile marine is now larger than that of many 
European Powers, and Great Britain maintains a 
navy for their defence; if they were independent, 
they would certainly have the privilege of paying 
for their own men-of-war. Protection for native 
industry ? They are free to protect native industry 
to their heart's content, to copy the economical 
blunders of the Mother country when she was young 
and ignorant of the true principles of commerce, 
when her ambition was in excess of her wisdom and 
when she would not believe what Sir Dudley North 
enunciated as far back as 1G91, that "the whole 
world as to trade is but as one nation." 

Though I think that the natural aspirations of the 
young and patriotic Canadians have taken a WTong 
turn, yet I hold that they have a solid foundation. 
They spring from the conviction that the day must 
come, if it have not already arrived, when their 
native land should hold a higher rank than that of 



THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO. 243 

a British colony. Indeed, to regard the Dominion, 
with its Parliament and separate government, as 
a mere Colony is to do violence to facts. To define 
exactly what it is, and to characterize its position in 
a phrase, constitute a difficulty not easily sur- 
mounted. Unfortunately, also, the world at large 
has a vague and absurd notion of the country and 
its capabilities. The Province of Quebec has repre- 
sented Canada for upwards of two centuries ; that 
Province does not possess a very rich soil nor a mild 
climate, and it has been supposed that what is 
true of it applies to the whole Dominion. When 
the French army, under the chivalrous and heroic 
Montcalm, made a determined stand in this Pro- 
vince against the attempt to deprive France of her 
grand domain in the New World, all that Voltaire, 
the best-informed man of his day, thought fit to 
remark was that he could not understand why 
people should try to cut each other's throats in 
order to become the proprietors of a few acres of 
ice. Since the time of Voltaire there has not been 
much progress in knowledge of the condition and 
resources of the land which he ignorantly depre- 
ciated. The Province of Ontario, formerly known 
as Upper Canada, was once covered with wood ; the 
early settlers had to clear the ground of trees before 
they could plough their fields and sow their seed. 
Life there came to be regarded as life in the bush, 
an existence of much hardship and yielding a scanty 
recompense. At present, the drawback is that 
there are too few trees ; the preservation of the 
forests being now as important a problem as that 
which vexed the first settlers when wood was super- 
abundant. Yet many educated persons in Europe 

R 2 



244 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

do not doubt for a moment that Canada is a land 
resembling, in its main features, the Sea of Ancient 
Ice at tlie North Pole and the Black Forest as 
described by Csesar. Of the Prairie Province of 
Manitoba, where the entire population of Great 
Britain might easily find a pleasant home, and of 
the Province of British Columbia, a large part of 
which is as rich in mineral treasures and enjoys as 
balmy a climate as the State of California, hardly 
anything is known in Europe. Yet these Provinces, 
including the not less important Maritime Provinces, 
make up the Dominion, which in area is equal to 
the United States, and in variety of soil, tem- 
perature, natural productions, and resources is on a 
par with them. The prospects of such a country 
ought to be more correctly estimated. It is 
natural for its inhabitants to think that they are 
something more than a colony, if something less 
than a nation. 

I see no reason why the existing relation between 
Canada and the Motherland should be materially 
altered. A future change ought to tighten the bond 
of union rather than relax or sever it. The un- 
doubted tendency of the age is to bring into closer 
association the people who have sprung from the 
same race. To this is attributable a united Italy 
and a united Germany, and the gist of the Eastern 
Question is the desire of the Slavonic race to be- 
come partners in government and a unit in natio- 
nality. Why should the destiny or determination of 
the Anglo-Saxon race be otherwise ? If brethren 
ought to dwell together in unity, surely the members 
of this race are well able to set a good example 
to the human family ! The exact place which the 



THE rPtOVINCE OF ONTARIO. 245 

Coufederation of Canada and the future federations 
of Australasia and South Africa should fill in the 
British Empire is a subject for discussion and 
arrangement, yet it is one which all true patriots, 
alike in the parent State and her Colonies, ought to 
be prepared to treat with a view to harmonious 
decision. Meantime, there is much to be done as 
regards Canada which has been overlooked or 
neglected. The leading men of the Dominion hap- 
pily place full value upon Imperial recognition of their 
titles to approbation ; but their claims to such dis- 
tinction seldom receive due attention. A few years 
back it was pompously announced that the scope of 
the Order of St. Michael and St. George had been 
enlarged so as to permit distinguished colonists to 
become members of it. They naturally look with 
disfavour upon hereditary honours. Indeed this 
feeling is gaining ground in England, and the day 
may not be distant when all titular distinctions there 
shall be the rewards of personal merit and enjoyed 
by those only who have duly earned them. Lord 
Dufferin was recently raised to the highest rank in the 
Order of St. Michael and St. George, because he had 
proved himself to be a most efficient Governor-General 
of Canada ; but not a single native-born Canadian has 
yet been made a Knight Commander of the Order. 
As the omission is not attributable to any lack of 
deserving candidates, it must be ascribed to simple 
indifference or sheer neglect. This may seem a 
trivial matter, as trivial as the privilege in the 
French Republic of certain men to wear a scrap of 
red ribbon in their button-holes ; but, if the 
Canadians were properly considered in the distri- 
bution of well-earned titular distinctions, they 



246 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

would feel for the hand which conferred them quite 
as much enthusiasm as Frenchmen feel for the 
authority which makes them members of the Legion 
of Honour. Again, there are many cases in which 
Canadian statesmen might be fitly entrusted with 
the discharge of Imperial functions ; every such 
appointment would make their fellow-citizens under- 
stand that they formed part of the same Imperial 
organization. But it does not enter into the calcu- 
lations of the Home Government to make any 
appointment of the kind. 

I have said enough to express my own impression 
of the lisi'ht in which Canadians view the land to 
which they are attached, and of the manner in 
which they ought to be regarded and treated in 
turn. Many points of detail I have passed over. 
One of these, which I shall merely cite by way of 
example, is the absurdity of such a grand portion of 
the British Empire being denied the right to accord 
naturalization to any foreigner who desires to cast 
in his lot with that Empire. A foreigner can be 
naturalized in Canada, but he cannot claim the 
privileges of a British subject when he leaves 
Canadian territory. This matter, among others, 
ought to be the subject of appropriate legislation, 
and the British statesman who deals with such 
topics in a right spirit will deserve the congratu- 
lations and gratitude of his countrymen. 



247 



XV. 

TRAVELLERS AND BANKERS IN NORTH AMERICA. 

British gold is a commodity wliich, according to 
Horace Greeley and otlier United States journalists, 
has wrought much mischief in their country. My 
experience is that few things are more useless there. 
Several times I have suffered all the privations of 
poverty because, my supply of the national currency 
being exhausted, I had nothing left in my purse but 
English sovereigns. In France, Italy, Germany, or 
any other European country, the traveller who 
possesses these coins can always get what he wants 
in a shop or a hotel. But in the United States they 
are objects of suspicion. Once a good Samaritan 
let me have what I wanted in exchange for one, and 
only charged about twenty-five per cent, for his 
kindness. He was a coloured gentleman. His 
civility was overpowering, and had its reward. I do 
not blame the citizen of the United States for de- 
clining to cash the gold coin of England. If one of 
them were to tender a gold eagle to an English 
shopkeeper, he might fiud that it was not valued at 
its proper rate. 

What surprised me most of all was to learn that 
in Canada the gold and silver coins of Great Britain 
are not readily negotiable. The Canadian prefers 



248 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

liis dollars, whether in silver or bank notes, to the 
specie of the Motherland. In Australia or South 
Africa, the English traveller never learns from the 
currency that he is not at home. In the great 
dependency of India, he finds an unaccustomed 
mode of reckoning in vogue, and he sees coins which 
are new to him. In the small possession of Heligo- 
land he may be startled, as I once was, at being 
asked to pay thirteen shillings for the performance 
of a trifling service, though, when he learns that the 
" schillinof " is a Hamburo- coin which is less in value 
than a penny, he will pay the debt with entire 
equanimity. I was struck with the remarks of some 
fellow-passengers by the Pacific Railway when they 
learned, upon entering the States of Nevada and 
California, that gold and silver coins were alone 
current, and that greenbacks were treated as foreign 
money. They felt that this circumstance tended to 
disprove the unity of their country. With not dis- 
similar feelings, the English visitor to tbe Dominion 
of Canada learns that the money which is a legal 
tender in the United Kinordom differs from that 
generally current there, and that he has to reckon in 
dollars and cents instead of pounds, shillings, and 
pence. The title of Mr. Warren's novel, " Ten Thou- 
sand a- Year," must be altered to " Fifty Thousand a- 
Year," in order to produce on the mind of a Canadian 
the effect produced upon that of an Englishman. 

Most persons who travel in America provide them- 
selves, before starting, with a letter of credit. A 
drawback to this consists in the necessity of deter- 
mining upon the places which are to be visited, so 
that the signature of the holder may be forwarded 
to the correspondents of the bank which issues the 



TEAVELLEES AND BANKEUS. 249 

letter. Another drawback is that a commission is 
charged upon the amount drawn by the holder. 
Those persons who take]circular notes avoid both of 
these inconveniences. I once cashed circular notes 
in New York to the same amount as the sum which 
a friend had drawn against his letter of credit ; he 
had to pay three dollars by way of commission, 
whereas I could not be called upon to pay anything. 
Indeed, the utility of these circular notes is too well 
known to need confirmation. Yet even they might 
be rendered still more serviceable. Those which I 
carry are issued by the London and Westminster 
Bank. There is hardly a place of importance in 
Europe, Asia, Africa, JNorth America, South America, 
the East Indies, the West Indies, and Australasia, 
which is not named in the letter of advice supplied 
along with them. The only important omission is the 
city of Boston ; why this great bank should not have a 
correspondent there is a puzzle with wdiich I should 
have preferred not to be troubled. These notes and 
the letter of advice are printed in the French tongue. 
This may have been necessary several years ago, but 
has now become an absurdity. Not a banker on the 
Continent of Europe is unable to decipher the 
English words on a note of the Bank of England, of 
Ireland, of any Scottish bank, or on a United States 
or Canadian greenback, while there are not a few 
bank managers and clerks in the United States and 
Canada to whom the Fi^ench language is as unin- 
telligible as Sanskrit. At Chicago, I was once 
politely asked to translate the contents^of the note 
and letter of advice, the clerk informing me that he 
was slightly in doubt as to the import of certain 
words, and that his fellow-clerks had not been able 



250 noLUMDiA A^^D Canada. 

to clear up the mystery. On other occasions, I have 
been satisfied that those persons who professed to be 
able to read the foreign words had an opinion of 
their import the reverse of my own. 

No one who has used one of these notes needs to 
be told that they have to be endorsed by the person 
in whose name they are drawn, and that the signa- 
ture must correspond with that written in the letter 
of advice. At Toronto, I had the novel experience 
of being suspected by a bank clerk of having com- 
mitted a new, or rather an impossible kind of 
forgery, that of forging my own name. After care- 
ful consideration, a long conference with the 
manager, and frequent surveys of my person, the 
clerk told me that the signatures did not tally. The 
one had been written with a very fine-pointed pen, 
the other with a broad-pointed one, and this con- 
stituted a difference which was held to be serious. 
Being asked whether I had any more notes than the 
sinorle one which I desired to have cashed, I was 
pleased to be able to state and prove that I possessed 
several. At length, it was decided that I might be 
the legal owner of these notes, and might have a 
right to demand cash in exchange for them, and, 
when I called again on a like errand, it was not 
hinted to me that I must be somebody else. While 
kept waiting, I had ample opportunities for seeing 
how business was done in this bank, a branch of the 
Bank of British North America. I learned that no 
one could get a cheque caslied without being " identi- 
fied." A respectable-looking man, who brought a 
cheque for a few dollars, was subjected to a process 
of examination and cross-examination resembling 
that which goes on when an important but doubtful 



TRAVELLERS AND BANKERS. 251 

witness is giving evidence in a court of justice. He 
stated where he Hved and mentioned persons whom 
he knew, but was unable to give any other than a 
negative answer to the reiterated question, " But is 
there no one to identify you ? " Fortunately some 
one entered who was personally known to the clerks 
and the man whom they were treating as a rogue, 
and then the few dollars were handed over to him. 
When the money was presented, it was done with 
the air of the magistrate who, being in a lenient 
mood, tells the accused to go free, but not to offend 
again. If every banker had refused to cash my 
circular notes I should have been little the worse. 
The only unpleasant consequence would have been 
the necessity of making an application to personal 
friends or acquaintances, who, I am sure, would be 
more eager to comply with my request than I should 
be in preferring it. Other persons might be less 
fortunate, and in their behalf I should be glad if 
bankers in the United States and Canada did not 
think it their duty to treat every stranger as a 
swindler. If bankers in the United Kingdom were 
to insist upon the " identification " of every person 
who presents a cheque for payment, the business of 
banking would be less profitable than it is, because 
the time which ought to be occupied in transacting 
it would be wasted by the clerks in discharging the 
unremunerative duties of amateur detectives. I fear 
that the formalities which are enforced in the United 
States and Canadian banks, reminding me of what 
prevails in the petty bank of a third-rate German 
town, are symptomatic of actual business being far 
from brisk, and of time not being on a par with 
money. 



252 



XVI. 

IMPJiESSIONS Oi' TOliONTO. 

It was with unfeigned reluctance that I said fare- 
well to the genial and enterprising inhabitants of 
Toronto. In addition to much private hospitality, I 
had enjoyed that of three clubs, the Toronto, the 
National, and the United Empire. The first is an 
old and select establishment; the other two are 
young and vigorous rivals. In all of them, good 
eating and drinking can be had at a charge which 
seemed to me very moderate, and with a refinement 
which cannot be surpassed. I had been long 
enouofh here to take an interest in the local busi- 
ness of the place. Three important electoral con- 
tests occurred during my stay. It was supposed 
that the result would have an appreciable effect 
upon tlie policy and stability of Mr. Mackenzie's 
Administration. That of South Ontario was the 
most important, for it was accepted as in some mea- 
sure a trial of strength between the Government and 
the Opposition. The leading members of both 
parties joined in the canvass, nor did the Premier 
tliink it undignified to come forward as a speaker in 
support of Mr. Edgar, the candidate of his party. 
A better candidate or a more admirable specimen of 
a native-born Canadian, it would be diiEcult to find. 



IMPEESSIONS OF TOEONTO. 253 

He had already been in Parliament and distinguished 
himself there. Not only was he beaten, but a seat 
was lost to his party. Though the majority was only 
forty-one, yet the defeat had the greater significance 
in a political point of view, because Mr. Gibbs, 
the successful candidate, based his claims for support 
on the advocacy of uncompromising Protection, 
as well as on general opposition to the Ministry. 

I had the satisfaction of seeing a specimen of one 
arm of the defensive force upon which the Dominion 
relies, the Toronto Field-Battery. Even after a 
careful scrutiny it was difficult to distinguish it 
from a battery of the Eoyal Artillery. I was not 
surprised when Colonel Strange, the Dominion 
Inspector of Artillery, said that he had never ex- 
pected " after a quarter of a century in the service, 
to see a Volunteer battery so thoroughly efficient in 
every respect." If the entire defensive force be of 
equal quality, Canada has no cause for being trou- 
bled with a panic, while belligerent Fenians will act 
wisely in keeping out of harm's way. 

During my stay in Toronto, Dominion Day was 
celebrated. It was the ninth anniversary of the 
confederation of the Provinces and of the beginning 
of a career as full of promise for the happiness of 
the people and for the good of mankind as was 
ever vouchsafed to a nation. The anniversary was 
observed as a public holiday. The streets were gay 
with flags and crowded with pleasure-seekers, and 
the absence of those persons who desecrate such 
occasions by intoxication was most gratifying to me. 
A Lacrosse match was the spectacle which attracted 
the largest number of sight-seers. A young and 
ambitious set of players had challenged an older and 



254 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

famous one. To the evident surprise of the former, 
a few goals or runs were scored by it. At this un- 
expected success some of the youths manifested 
their dehght with such an energy of demonstration 
that I almost expected them to verify the exagge- 
rated saying about men jumping out of their skins for 
joy. The game is one in which many hard knocks 
are given and received, and in which speed of foot, 
quickness of hand, and sharpness of eye have to be 
displayed. In one match, a set of Indians con- 
tended with a set of palefaces ; the Indians were 
beaten alike on their own grounds and at their here- 
ditary game. A brilliant display of fireworks in the 
Horticultural Gardens concluded the rejoicings of 
Dominion Day in Toronto. No public holiday could 
have been better kept, nor could a great historical 
anniversary be celebrated with more heartiness or 
propriety. 

On the 12th of July, I saw the procession which 
Orangemen consider appropriate in a part of the 
world where Orangeism is an anachronism. Yet, if 
some Irishmen or their descendants and sympa- 
thizers deem it essential to their happiness to parade 
in yellow scarves and sashes on one day in the year, 
and others consider themselves faithless to their 
creed and country if they omit to make a like public 
display, adorned with green scarves and sashes, on 
another, it would be intolerant to hinder, and it 
would be bad taste to blame them. So long as 
they keep the peace, they do no harm to others, 
even if they fail to benefit themselves. Happily, 
these processions seldom lead to ill consequences in 
Ontario, while they are regarded as splendid spectacles 
by the children. 



I 



IMPRESSIONS OF TORONTO. 255 

There are three theatres in Toronto where excel- 
lent performances are given. During my visit, an 
English opera troupe appeared at the summer theatre 
in the Horticultural Gardens. The principal members 
of it, the Misses Holman, are two Canadian young 
ladies, the elder of whom sings and acts very well. I 
saw them perform in Ijecocq's " Girofle, Girofla." 
The operetta was well put on the stage, and the com- 
pany acted with considerable finish. Miss Holman, 
who played the leading female part, did so with much 
effect, and justified the praise which admiring Cana- 
dians lavish upon her. If she could only get rid of a 
spasmodic action of the shoulders, which mars the 
effect of her acting, she would satisfy the most fasti- 
dious critic. These are but a few of the sights and 
pleasures which made my stay in the capital of On- 
tario one to be remembered with satisfaction. I was 
unfortunately unable to attend any of the political 
picnics, which are a favourite form of party demon- 
stration. Speechifying is the staple of the enter- 
tainment, though refreshments in a solid and liquid 
shape are not omitted from the programme. Having 
read the reports of many speeches delivered on 
these occasions, I found that they all bore a similar 
character ; the speakers trumpeting forth the merits 
and services of themselves and their own party, and 
bewailing the sins and shortcomings of the party to 
which their opponents belonged. I regretted most 
of all that other engagements prevented me from 
accepting the invitation of the Honourable George 
Brown to visit his estate of Bow Park. As the 
founder and proprietor of the Toronto Globe, as an 
ex-Premier of Canada prior to confederation, as a 
Senator of the Dominion, he is one of the most 



256 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

notable men in the country; like enegotic and eminent 
men in all countries, he is the target for criticism, 
seldom friendly and not unfrequently unjust. He 
has long wielded a powerful pen, and he has attained 
a position of authority which renders him an object 
of envy and animadversion. If public men could be 
fairly judged during their lifetime, I fancy the persons 
who speak most bitterly about this truly representa- 
tive Canadian would modify their language and make 
allowance for much which they dislike. It is certain 
that Mr. Brown's place in Canada is a conspicuous 
one ; the future historian will probably say far more 
in his praise than some of his contemporaries would 
dream of doing. The Globe is now edited by his 
brother, Mr. Gordon Brown, a man of great sagacity, 
force of character, and journalistic talent, the Honour- 
able George Brown devoting the greater part of 
his time to the rearing of thoroughbred farm stock. 
Like Charles James Fox and Lord Althorp, he finds 
a pleasure in his farm much more satisfying than 
that afforded by the turmoil of public life. Cer- 
tainly, his success in improving the breed of cattle 
in the Dominion is not the least among his useful 
achievements. From an article in the Canada 
Farmer for the 15th January, 1876, 1 learn that Bow 
Park estate covers 900 acres, of which 780 are under 
cultivation, the remainder being covered with roads, 
farm buildings, orchards, and belts of timber, and 
supplying pieces of wild land where the cattle take 
their daily recreation. The bulls, which are of the 
purest breeds, have been imported from England. 
The good health of the cattle is remarkable, the 
death-rate being under one per cent, yearly. No 
better notion of what has been accomplished can be 



IMPEESSIONS OP TORONTO. 257 

given tliim by quoting the following passage : — 
" The popularity of the herd keeps pace with its 
improvement. Buyers come from all quarters. A 
drove of remarkably fine heifers went across the 
Continent two years ago, and was shipped at San 
Francisco by steamer for the Emperor of Japan. 
The Provincial Government of New Brunswick were 
purchasers last Fall of thirty head of young stock ; 
and Bow Park bred shorthorns have already found 
their way.into many States of the adjoining Repub- 
lic, and into a large proportion of the townships of 
Ontario." I repeat my regret that I can speak of 
this remarkable place from hearsay only, and I add 
my hope that I may yet be able to do so after a 
personal visit. Of this I entertain no doubt : the 
place must be in every respect noteworthy, because 
Canadians who say uncomplimentary things of the 
Honourable George Brown as a journalist and a 
legislator readily express their admiration for Bow 
Park. 

I cannot single out for separate mention all the per- 
sons in Toronto from whom I received much kindness 
and attention. Rivals in politics, they were at one in 
doing what lay in their power to give me informa- 
tion and to render my stay agreeable. Belonging, 
as they did, to opposite camps, I learned more from 
them than if they had been members of the same 
party and treated public questions with the one- 
sidedness of those persons who represent a single 
aspect in pohtics or government. I am convinced 
that Canadian politics, however provincial they may 
seem, and however arid and unattractive they may 
be to the superficial observer, are in reality worthy 
of close study by all students of political science. 



258 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

Indeed, Canada is a theatre on which a great 
legislative drama is now in progress. All the races 
which inhabit the United Kingdom are there work- 
ing out a common destiny in concert with the race 
which inhabits France. We know how difficult it is 
for Englishmen, Scotsmen, and Irishmen to dwell 
together in concord, promoting their own hap- 
piness by a right acceptance of the soothing 
principle of compromise, and by submitting to the 
rule of expediency instead of stiffly contending for 
the uniform application of logical but unpractical 
conclusions. Our Canadian brethren have the 
further difficulty of persuading those among them 
who are of French origin, to unite in a general 
design, and to place the interest of a common 
country above the prejudices of race and the 
promptings of tradition. Hitherto the result has 
been far more satisfactory than any mere reasoner 
could have foreseen. All thinofs are workinof for 
good. Frenchmen in speech and descent here 
manifest as strong an attachment to self-govern- 
ment and to parliamentary institutions as the most 
patriotic Briton could display, and they belie the 
idle talk about the representative system of the 
United Kingdom being unsuited for the excitable 
members of the Celtic family. There was true 
wisdom as well as Gallic wit in the reply of the late 
Sir George Cartier to the inquiry of the Queen, 
"What, Sir George, is a French Canadian?" 
' ' Your Majesty, he is an Englishman who speaks 
French." The French Canadians speak English 
also, and many combine in a remarkable degree the 
best qualities of both nationalities. Moreover, they 
are among the most patriotic subjects of the Crown, 



IMPRESSIONS OF TORONTO. 259 

and the saying of Sir Etienne Taciie, that the last 
shot fired on the North American Continent in 
support of British supremacy would be fired by a 
French Canadian from the citadel of Quebec, 
forcibly expresses what would happen in an almost 
impossible event. 



s 2 



2C0 



XVII. 

TOEONTO TO SOUTHAMPTON. 

I JOURNEYED to tliG Suspension Brido^e whicli crosses 
tlie river Niagara over the Great Western Railway, 
thence to Buffalo nnd New York over the Erie 
Railway. The latter is a line with which British 
investors are painfully familiar. They have received 
from its directors abundant and reiterated promises 
of future dividends, accompanied with requests for 
the disbursement of more capital. In a work pub- 
lished in 1860, and written by Mr. F. C. Grattan, 
who had been British Consul at Boston for twenty 
years, it is said, " Should any one be tempted to 
trust his money in American ventures, let him 
inquire the history of the New York and Erie Rail- 
road Company." Yet, despite warning and ex- 
perience, credulous investors continued to furnish the 
directors of this company with the additional capital 
which the shrewder citizens of the United States 
refused to supply. So long as money is sent from 
this side of the Atlantic, the directors of the Erie 
Railway are always pleased to receive and prepared 
to spend it on the other. If the British capitalist 
had never become a holder of Erie shares or bonds, 
or if he had judiciously refrained from responding 
to the demands for more capital, it is probable that 



TORONTO TO SOUTHAMPTON. 261 

tlie line would have been better managed, and it is 
certain that its condition could not have been more 
hopeless than at present. The line is well made ; 
it runs through a rich and beautiful country ; it is a 
trunk line connecting the markets of the West with 
the mart of New York. But it has competitors, 
equally favoured in all these respects, which, being 
narrow-guage lines, can be worked at less cost than 
it can be, seeing that it is a broad-guage one. The 
rates charged must be the same as those which are 
charged by directors of other companies, though 
the work has to be done at greater outlay. This 
railway may pay a dividend on the ordinary stock 
about the same time that a dividend is paid by the 
Emma Mine. The position of a bondholder may be 
considered more favourable by those investors who 
are exceedingly sanguine. I should rank Erie 
bonds with those of Greece or Mexico, Honduras 
or Turkey, as a safe and permanent investment. 

For the third time during this visit to the United 
States, I arrived at New York and spent a few days 
there. On one of these occasions the heat was 
overpowering, being more intense, I was told, than 
had been experienced for many a year. Indeed, 
the hundredth anniversary of the Republic was 
remarkable as the year in which the hottest summer 
on record had occurred. For weeks together, I 
did not see the thermometer indicate less than 
89° in the shade ; while it often indicated 106°. 
In Admiral Anson's " Voyage round the World," 
it is said that the highest point of the thermometer 
in the Centurmi, during three years and nine 
months, was 76°. The Rev. Richard Walter, who 
wrote the story of the voyage, remarks that, once in 



2C2 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

1746, the thermometer in London marked 78°, and 
that he had heard of the temperature having been 
98° at St. Petersburg in 1743, this, he says, being a 
" degree of heat, that, were it not authorized by the 
regularity and circumspection with which the ob- 
servations seem to have been made, would appear 
altogether incredible." Till I had spent the summer 
months in the United States and Canada, I was 
quite as sceptical as the chaplain to Admiral Anson 
about the degree of heat which the human frame 
could sustain. I now readily admit, however, that 
the hottest spot which the imagination can picture 
may be found on this side of the grave, and that 
the best men may suffer as severely as the worst. 

As it suited my convenience to land at South- 
ampton, I resolved to embark at New York in a 
steamer of the Wilson line which touched there on 
the way to Hull. I had heard the steamers of this 
company both disparaged and praised. Whether they 
are well adapted for encountering the terrific storms 
which sometimes sweep over the Atlantic, I shall 
leave to the decision of professional mariners. I 
can say that the state-room occupied by my wife 
and myself was the best-arranged and most spacious 
I have ever seen. On the other hand, there was a 
great and unfavourable contrast between the meagre 
fare provided for the first-class passengers, and the 
frequent and sumptuous repasts served on board 
the steamer of the National line which I have 
described in the second chapter. 

The first-class passengers were few in number, 
without being select. All the ofiicers were ex- 
perienced navigators, and pleasant men. Captain 
Laver, who had been for fifteen years in the 



TORONTO TO SOUTHAMPTON. ■ 263 

service of the Inman line, and had but recently 
entered the service of the Wilson line, had 
a perfect familiarity with the Atlantic in all its 
moods and phases. Mr. Guthrie, the chief officer, 
had been in command of several steamships ; but, 
having spent three years on shore, he accepted this 
subordinate post tiU he should again obtain an 
independent command. The second and third 
officers had been frequently backwards and forwards 
between England and the United States. The less 
I say about the crew the better. Such a motley 
set of sailors I never saw before. The best seaman 
among them was a Greek, and the next best was a 
negro. Sometimes, when the officer of the watch 
gave an order, he had to explain to the sailors 
what he meant, and show them how to execute it. 
When sailors do not always know one rope from 
another, they fail to inspire a landsman with con- 
fidence. Had Mr. Plimsoll been a passenger, he 
might have been more impressed with the sea- 
worthiness of the vessel than with that of the crew. 
At Southampton I had an easy task in con- 
vincing the Customs authorities that no spirits, 
cigars, or silver-plate were concealed in my luggage. 
Perhaps a large profit can be got by importing 
spirits from the United States or Canada, but this is 
a business about which I am ignorant. I know 
that I can buy cigars one-third cheaper in London 
than in New York, so the temptation to bring them 
from the latter to the former place is not one to 
which I am likely to succumb. I have no objection 
to silver-plate when it is given to me ; but, when 
furnishing a house at my own expense, I prefer 
electro-plate, firstly, because it costs less ; secondly. 



264 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

because it is quite as serviceable, and thirdly , 
because it lias sliglit attraction for pilferers. I bad 
simply to unlock one or two articles of Uiggage as a 
matter of form. The absence of superfluous fussi- 
ness on the part of the Custom House officers made 
the landing here and the prospect of a speedy 
arrival at home all the more agreeable. 

The steamer from which I had landed continued 
her voyage to Hull, her destined port. Her name 
is one which is now shrouded in the painful mystery 
which surrounds the ill-fated President, the Pacific, 
the City of Boston, and other craft which have disap- 
peared and left no sign. Sailing from Hull for New 
York in the regular course, she never reached her 
destination. It is improbable that any tidings 
will ever be obtained of the last voyage and the 
end of the steamship Colomho. 



265 



XVIII. 

A EETROSPECT AND A COMPARISON. 

If some of the Fathers of the Repubhc, such as 
Frankhn and Jefferson, John Adams and Washington, 
had risen from their graves and been present at its 
centenary, they would have been as strangers among 
a people whom they had moulded into a nation, 
having as much to unlearn as the most prejudiced 
foreigner, and as much to learn as the most intelli- 
gent Japanese. They would have had to take 
lessons in the geography of their country in order 
to ascertain the boundaries and designations of many 
States, the names and situations of many cities; 
they would have had to acquire information about 
the ways of party managers and the mode in which 
the chief magistrate is now elected ; they might have 
been puzzled to recognize any material likeness 
between the system of government which they found 
in operation and the carefully balanced Republic 
which they called into existence, 

Jefferson would assuredly contemplate with 
delight the pure democracy which has fulfilled his 
wishes, given effect to his teaching, and supplanted 
the original Republic. Franklin, John Adams, and 
Washington might prefer tlie form of government 
which they had elaborated with a single-minded 



266 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

desire to render tlie welfare of their country indepen- 
dent of the triumph of a party, to protect the people 
from becoming the tools or dupes of professional 
politicians, and to insure the effective representation 
of the deliberate and undoubted opinion of the 
nation. While finding matter for discussion or 
criticism, they would also find much wherein to' 
glory. The widened area and increased population 
of their country ; the grand array of States and 
Territories ; the vastness and opulence of cities 
which in their day were but petty towns, covering 
what was once a dense wood or noisome swamp ; 
the net-work of railways, over which goods and 
passengers are carried with a rapidity and con- 
venience far in excess of what was possible on the 
canals which they considered a perfect means of 
transport ; the newspapers as far superior to the 
e:azettes of their time as a modern school manual 
is to a niediseval horn-book ; the steamboats which 
crowd the rivers ; the electric telegraphs which have 
made lightning the servant of thought ; the innumer- 
able appliances which have lengthened and ameliorated 
existence since they left the world, and the absence 
from their country of the curse of slavery which they 
deplored, but could not extirpate: all these things 
would excite their admiration and thankfulness, and 
justify them in rejoicing over the results of their 
handiwork. 

" What are the great United States for, if not for 
the regeneration of man ?" General Choke defiantly 
put this question when he was persuading Martin 
Chuzzlewit to become a permanent settler in Eden. 
The phrase is a condensed reflex of the optimism 



A EETBOSPECT AND A COMPARISON. 267 

wliich prevailed when tlie Republic was young. 
The rhodomontade in which Britons so delighted in 
the eighteenth century, that the impostor Jenkins 
was enabled to originate war with Spain by telling 
a committee of the House of Commons, when 
interrogated as to what he thought after the Spanish 
captain had cut off his ear, " I commended my soul 
to God, and my cause to my country," — soon became 
the fashion among the citizens of the Republic in 
North America. They fancied themselves to be a 
peculiar people, who had been entrusted with the 
sacred mission of diffusing a vague abstraction called 
the " Great American Idea," and considered, when 
they uttered the immoral phrase, " our country right 
or wrong," that they were giving vent to a maxim of 
the truest patriotism. Taught to repeat that the 
natural equality of all men is a self-evident truth, 
they have always been disinclined to inquire how far 
this assertion will stand the test of critical examina- 
tion. A patriotic phrase can feeldom bear analysis, 
and those persons who utter it, being instinctively 
conscious of that fact, shrink from substantiating the 
literal accuracy of what they glibly repeat. 

It is self-evident that all men are not created 
equal. If all men enter the world with equal 
possibilities, they do not enjoy equal opportunities, 
and opportunity is fortune or fate. Natural equality 
and mutual dependence is the rule of the human race. 
An infant left to itself will starve : those persons who 
leave an infant to itself commit murder. The idlest 
talk in which people can indulge is that which treats 
of human rights without taking human duties into 
account. It is infinitely more to the advantage of 
the community that duties, which are coextensive 



268 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

with rights, should be ascertained and discharged 
than that rights should be asserted and lauded. The 
tendency of some unreflecting United States citizens 
has been to follow the lead of Jefferson, and hold 
that they have done enough when they have pro- 
claimed and upheld their collective independence. 
Believing that this is all that can be required of them, 
they are prone to speak with contempt of nations 
wherein human nature and society are treated as 
complex problems and wherein no vain attempt is 
made to enforce or parade a purely chimerical 
uniformity. The only true and really practical 
equality is equality before the law, and of this the 
United States do not possess a monopoly. It is a 
rule, to which the exceptions are not more frequent 
there than in other lands, that those persons who 
boast the loudest about the country to which they 
belong by the accident of birth, seldom give that 
country any reason to be proud of them, while those 
persons who copy their example, after having been 
naturalized, seldom give the country which they have 
left any cause to regret their departure. 

While the phrases of Jefferson have exercised an 
important influence over his fellow-countrymen, 
other causes have contributed to establish a feel- 
ing of superiority in their minds. United States 
nationality was based upon the vigorous resistance 
of the Empire from which it was an off-shoot. The 
triumph of the seceding and victorious Colonists was 
twofold; they had become independent, and they 
had conquered their independence in the teeth of 
formidable odds. After their power to have their 
own way was demonstrated in the field, they had to 
face sneers and prejudices more cutting and painful 



A RETROSPECT AND A COMPARISON. 269 

tlian the arms of the foo. They were assured that 
their independence was an illusion, that they must 
inevitably become the sport of anarchy, the vassals 
of a dictator, or the prey of a foreign conqueror. 
Though the elements of strength and greatness in 
the infant Republic were recognized by a few states- 
men of genius, among whom Charles James Fox was 
most conspicuous, yet the majority of those persons 
who gave any heed to its affairs gleefully pointed 
out how far the government fell short of perfection 
and confidently predicted that the republican bubble 
would soon burst. Undue boasting and exaggerated 
expectations, on the one side, were coincident with, 
if they did not encourage unfair depreciation on the 
other. 

It was unfortunate that some of the earliest 
travellers in the United States were foolish enthu- 
siasts, who wrote nonsense about a state of nature 
and the rights of man. The Marquis of Lafayette 
exhibited a childish exultation at playing the part of 
a good republican. If it be difficult for a rich man 
to enter the kingdom of Heaven, it is easy for such 
an one to get unmerited credit on earth by professing 
to be no better than the humblest of mankind, and 
to attain an exalted place by judiciously stooping. 
Being a marquis and a man of large fortune, 
Lafayette found in the profession of theoretical 
republicanism, the enjoyment of a new sensation 
and a passport to a popularity which he might not 
otherwise have obtained. 

His countryman, M. Brissot, who was guillotined 
by his republican brethren in Paris on account of 
his undoubted attachment to liberty, visited the 
United States in 1788. He expected to find a 



270 COLUMCTA AND CANADA. 

terrestrial paradise tliere. Before landing lie ex- 
perienced vivid pleasure from a commonplace inci- 
dent. The master of tlie vessel in which he was a 
passenger, having spoken with a fishing-boat off the 
banks of Newfoundland, received a few cod-fish, for 
which he gave some salt beef and pork in exchange. 
This reminded M. Brissot of " primitive times, the 
thought of which is always associated with greater 
purity and happiness." ' On stepping ashore at 
Boston, he was " spared the annoyances, which are 
even more humiliating than wearisome, of a visit 
from custom-house officers, as is the rule in Euro- 
pean countries." He was charmed with the aspect 
of the people in the streets of this town. These 
sturdy Republicans had neither the pleasure-seeking 
look of Parisians nor the haughty carriage of the 
English; "their air was simple and honest, yet 
fraught with the dignity of men conscious of their 
freedom, and who regard their fellow-men as their 
brethren and equals." Once he saw the driver of a 
stage-coach, who was the butt of bitter remarks 
from the passengers, keep his temper and hold his 
tongue. M. Brissot thought that in Europe a 
bloody quarrel would have been the result of a 
similar provocation ; here, however, the result con- 
vinced him that " in a free country reason extends 
her empire over every class." He noted some 
drawbacks in this modern Arcadia. There were too 
many prosperous lawyers in Boston and too many 
bachelors in New York; both being dangerous ele- 
ments in a Hepublic. It pleased him to learn that 
the bachelors in Pennsylvania paid a heavier poll- 

^ " Nouveau Voyage dans les Etats-Unic," par J. P. Brissot, 
vol. i. p. 105. 



A RETEOSrECT AND A COMPARISON. 271 

tax than married men. He saw with disgust the 
sad and novel spectacle of Eepublicans smoking 
cigars. He states that " this custom is loathsome 
to a Frenchman. It must be offensive to women 
because it affects the purity of the breath ; it must 
be censured by a philosopher because it causes 
superfluous expense." In his opinion, as great an 
evil as tobacco-smoking is for women in a Re- 
public to follow the fashions. Being present at a 
cliuner-party in New York, he saw two ladies in low- 
necked gowns and he " was scandalized at this 
indecency in female Republicans." His fellow- 
countryman, the Marquis de Chastellux, who visited 
the United States a few years before him, comments 
in a like strain on the necessity for the women of a 
Republic being models of simplicity in dress ; he 
thinks it incompatible with the political system of 
the country that gold, silver, or diamonds should be 
worn.^ The translator of the marquis's book, who 
was an uncompromising partisan of the United 
States, and travelled there during the Revolution, 
records that " the rage for dress among the women 
in America, in the very height of the miseries of 
war, was beyond all bounds." ^ M. Brissot does not 
exempt even the Quakers from backsliding in this 
matter : he holds that their principles began to 
decay when they took to wearing fine linen. In 
addition to the superabundance of lawyers, bachelors, 
and fashionable garments, M. Brissot observed with 
regret, that some persons, whom he styles well-bred, 
ostentatiously dispensed with pocket handkerchiefs. 
Among the hints for their improvement, with 

>= " Travels in North America in 1780-81-82," vol. ii. p. 360. 
' Vol. ii. p. 115. 



272 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

wliich he favoured the citizens of the United States, 
was one to the effect that they should abolish public 
gaols. They cost much to build and they are 
unpleasant places of abode. Far better, he thinks, 
would it be if criminals were condemned to serve 
their terms of imprisonment in their own houses, 
with policemen on duty at the doors. Another 
piece of advice, equally judicious and practical, was 
that a mercantile marine should neither be en- 
couraged nor maintained. In his opinion a sea- 
faring life is unnatural. Men who navigate the 
ocean may become sea- sick and must dispense with 
the society of their wives ; the one being a great 
affliction and the other a great deprivation. His 
conclusion is that Republicans ought to avoid being 
sea-sick and should maintain domestic habits by 
engaging in the coasting- trade and always keeping 
within sight and reach of land.'* Had he tried the 
experiment, he might have found that the malady 
which he dreaded does not always spare the fair- 
weather sailor who coasts along the shore. 

On the whole, however, M. Brissot was enchanted 
with the United States. AVTierever he went, " he 
met with the hospitable reception which is accorded 
to a brother and a friend, travelling for the good of 
the human race." Being struck wilh the purity of ' 
the manners, he explains this by saying that nine- 
tenths of the people are dispersed throughout the 
country. If the purity be as great now as it was 
then, the explanation does not hold good. In 1800, 
one twenty-fifth part of the population was congre- 
gated in towns having 8,000 inhabitants and up- 
wards ; in 1870, the proportion was one-fifth." * 

* Vol. i. p. 100. ' " Walker's Statistical Atlas." 187G. 



A EETROSPECT AND A COMPAEISON. 273 

Though pronouncing France, which he had quitted 
in disgust, to be " the richest, the most powerful, 
and most enlightened country in the world," M. 
Brissot adjures those who " doubt the prodigious 
effects of liberty upon man and his industry, to go to 
the United States. What miracles will they not see 
there ! " ' 

In the year 3 of the French Republic and the 
year 1795 of the civilized world, Volney embarked 
at Havre for the United States. He had travelled 
much and written some striking works ; he was an 
actor in the Revolution, siding with the Girondists, 
and had passed ten months in prison on account of 
his advocacy of freedom. Grieving for the past, 
disquieted about the future, he crossed the Atlantic 
in quest of a peaceful asylum wherein to dwell for 
the remainder of his life. He travelled over the 
United States, " studying the climate, laws, inhabi- 
tants, and their manners, chiefly with regard to 
social life and domestic happiness." After an ex- 
perience of three years, he resolved to end his days 
there, but the animosity against the French was so 
great, in 1798, that he recrossed the ocean in the 
hope of finding a quiet resting-place in Europe. 

Volney planned a work on the United States, of 
which the only part given to the world was an out- 
line of the physical characteristics of the country, 
entitled a "View of the Climate and Soil of the 
United States of America." In an introduction he 
sketches the plan of the entire work, which would 
have been in direct contrast, in many respects, to 
the idyllic picture by his countryman, M. Brissot. 

• Vol. ii. p. 327. 



274 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

He expressed regret at not having found " in the 
Americans those fraternal and benevolent disposi- 
tions with which some writers have flattered us ;" 
he thought that they retain a strong tinge of the 
national prejudices of their Mother Country against 
the French. He was impressed with the differences 
between the two nations ; differences which wholly 
escaped M. Brissot's observation. Volney says, " The 
Americans charge the French with levity, indiscre- 
tion and talkativeness, and the French reproach 
tliBm with a dryness of manner, a stiffness, and a 
taciturnity, that carry the appearance of pride and 
haughtiness, and such a negligence of those atten- 
tions, those civilities, on which they set a value, 
that they continually imagine they see in them a 
design to affront, or rudeness of character." In his 
opinion, the latter charges are not devoid of fouuda- 
tion, though he doubts whether the national in- 
civility be wholly due to systematic design. He 
thinks the people particularly deserve to be called, 
what they often call themselves, a " young people," 
on account of " the inexperience and eagerness, with 
which they give themselves up to the enjoyments of 
fortune and the seductions of flattery." He thinks, 
too, that the United States have been more indebted 
to their isolated situation and the natural riches of 
the country " than to the essential goodness of their 
laws, or the wisdom of their administration, for their 
public prosperity, and civil and individual wealth." 
In reviewing the conduct of the people and the 
Government from 1783 to 1798, he beheves that he 
can prove by incontestable facts, " that neither more 
economy in the finances, more good faith in public 
transactions, more decency in public morals, more 



A RETROSPECT AND A COMPARISON. 275 

moderation of party spirit, nor more care in educa- 
tion and instruction, prevailed in the United States, 
in proportion to their population, the mass of affairs, 
and the multiplicity of interests, than in most of the 
old States of Europe : that whatever has been done 
there of good and useful, and whatever of civil 
liberty, and security of person and property, exists 
among them, is owing rather to popular and personal 
habits, the necessity of labour, and the high price of 
all kinds of work, than any able measures or sage 
policy of government." ^ The foregoing extracts 
prove how very dissimilar were the conclusions of 
Volney and Brissot ; exaggeration on the one side 
was paralleled by exaggeration on the other. 

Mr. Isaac Weld was the earliest traveller from the 
European side of the Atlantic who gave a really valu- 
able account of what was to be seen in the United 
States and Canada. His object in going thither was 
to learn whether he could advise his countrymen to 
emigrate from Ireland. He paid his visit seven 
years after M. Brissot; unlike him, he was not 
treated as a friend and brother. According to 
Mr. Weld, if it were found out " that a stranger is 
from Great Britain or Ireland, the people imme- 
diately begin to boast of their constitution and free- 
dom, and give him to understand that they think 
every Englishman a slave because he submits to be 
called a subject." * He was unfavourably impressed 
with the poorer class of the people : " They return 
rude and impertinent answers to questions couched 
in the most civil terms, and will insult a person that 

' Preface to " View of the Climate and Soil of the United States 
of America," by C. F. Volney, p. xv. 

* Isaac Weld's " Travels through North America and Canada 
in 1795.G-7," vol. i. p. 125. 

T 2 



276 COLUMBIA AiND CANADA. 

bears the appearance of a gentleman, on purpose to 
show how much they consider themselves upon an 
equality with him. Civility cannot be purchased 
from them on any terms ; they seem to think that it 
is incompatible with freedom, and that there is no 
other way of convincing a stranger that he is really 
in a land of liberty, but by being sulky and ill- 
mannered in his presence." ^ 

The bad manners that shocked Mr. Weld were 
due to a natural cause which can be easily under- 
stood by recalling what took place in France when 
the circumstances were similar. Nothing could 
surpass the ceremoniousness and high breeding of 
the old French nobles, who delighted in exhibit- 
ing their proficiency in paying compliments and 
displaying, on all occasions, an exquisite politeness. 
Their dress was as elaborate as their phrases. After 
the Revolution, it was considered the duty of good 
French citizens to be rough in manner, rude in 
speech and careless in dress, the object being to 
show that they were not aristocrats. For a like 
reason, Jefferson sedulously avoided doing anything, 
as President, which George the Third would do as 
King. The King of Great Britain went to open 
Parliament in a carriage and delivered a speech ; 
President Jefferson sent a message to Congress, 
and, when he visited the capitol, he rode on horse- 
back. If the King had ridden on horseback, the 
President would have driven in a carriasfo. Wash- 
ington and John Adams held levees modelled upon 
those of monarchical rulers; Jefferson openly dis- 
carded the etiquette which savoured of Old World 

• Vol. i. p. 29. 



A EETROSPECT AND A COMPAEISON. 277 

customs. Many of his contemporaries were aware 
that this was a mixture of hypocrisy and affectation. 
One of them, Mr. Samuel Breck, who was well 
acquainted with several Presidents, thus refers to 
him in his " Recollections :" — " That levelling phi- 
losopher, Jefferson, was the first President who 
broke down all decorum and put himself when 
abroad upon a footing with the plainest farmer of 
Virginia. I say ' when abroad,' because in his 
family he lived luxuriously and was fastidious in the 
choice of his company. But when he wanted to 
catch the applause of the vulgar — with whom, how- 
ever, he was too proud to associate — he would ride 
out without a servant, and hitch his pacing nag to 
the railing of the Presidential palace." The people 
were pleased to see the simple manners which the 
great man assumed to flatter them, and they re- 
turned his flattery with interest by copying and 
exaggerating his example, considering a studied 
unpoliteness of demeanour an unmistakeable token 
of their unbending patriotism. This was as childish 
as the conduct of the rabid French Republicans, 
who demonstrated that they were very different 
persons from the wicked and well-dressed nobles 
whose heads they had cut off, by flaunting dirty 
shirts and bespattered boots when they condescended 
to enter a drawing-room. 

Mr. AVeld was surprised to find so many men in 
the United States with military titles and he was 
still more surprised to see " such numbers of them 
employed in capacities apparently so inconsistent 
with their rank ; for it is nothing uncommon to see 
a captain in the shape of a waggoner, a colonel the 
driver of a stage coach, or a <Teueral dealing out 



278 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

penny ribbon beliind his counter." ^ Twenty years 
previously, tlie Marquis cle Cliastellux remarked 
that, " nothing is more common in America than 
to see an innkeeper a colonel;" the translator of his 
book adds that he had stayed three days in Virginia 
at an inn where the host was a colonel, a justice of 
the peace, and the parish clerk. The liking for a 
title of some sort has not quite died out in the 
United States. Thoug^h a native of that home of 
democracy is taught from early youth to regard a 
title of nobility with aversion, yet he shows no 
repugnance to acquiring or adopting the rank and 
style of colonel or general, and, if a plausible excuse 
for taking either be wanting, then he contents him- 
self with that of Juds^e. The number of citizens who 
prefix " Honourable " to their names is larger than 
in any country with which I am acquainted. 
Hundreds adorn their waistcoats with badges, show- 
ing that they are freemasons or firemen. Vanity 
of this kind is perfectly harmless ; it merely denotes 
that human nature is the same in the great Re- 
public as elsewhere. It is, however, equally harm- 
less for any of the inhabitants of countries which 
United States citizens are accustomed to designate 
benighted, to wear a scrap of ribbon in a button- 
hole, and to bear the title of baron or marquis, duke 
or prince. 

While, on the one hand, the patriotic citizen of the 
Republic is wont to fancy and declare that no good 
thing can come out of a country in which the chief 
magistrate is called a Sovereign, on the other, the 
unreflecting subject of a monarch is equally ready 

' Vol. i. p. 236. 



A EETROSPECT AND A COMPARISON. 279 

to deny that any good thing can be found in a 
country where the chief magistrate is called a Presi- 
dent. A book by Mrs. Trollope which was welcomed 
by the Q.uaHerly Bevieiv as that which all right- 
minded persons desired to see, caused a manifestation 
of pleasure on the one side of the Atlantic and of ill- 
humour on the other which it is now hard to under- 
stand or account for. Mrs. Trollope was firmly con- 
vinced that everything must be out of joint in a land 
without a hereditary dynasty and an established 
church and where the people elected their civil and 
spiritual rulers. She avowed that her chief object 
in giving publicity to her conclusions was " to 
encourage her countrymen to hold fast by a Con- 
stitution that insures all the blessings which flow 
from established habits and solid principles. If 
they forego these, they will incur the fearful risk of 
breaking up their repose by introducing the jarring 
tumult and universal degradation which invariably 
follow the wild scheme of placing all the power of the 
state in the hands of the populace." ^ When Mrs. 
Trollope went to the United States, there was an agi- 
tation in her native land about a reform of parlia- 
ment; she evidently thought that she could doEngland 
a service by depicting the horrid consequences which 
had been the result elsewhere of extending the 
suffrage and of taking the people at large into the 
entire confidence of their governors. Whatever 
she did not like throughout the Union, from tobacco - 
chewing to rudeness in a hotel or stage coach, she 
attributed to the political constitution. What ap- 
peared to her at once remarkable and discreditable 

* " Domestic Manners of tlie Americans." Preface. 



280 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

was the exquisite sensitiveness and soreness of the 
people respecting everything said or written con- 
cerning them. She took care to furnish occasion 
and scope for the display of a trait which met with 
her disapproval. Her condemnation of the entire 
people was as sweeping as it was preposterous : 
" I do not like them, I do not like their principles, 
I do not like their manners, I do not like their 
opinions."^ Mrs. Trollope could not like them 
because she was incapable of understanding them, 
being wholly destitute of the philosophic tolerance 
and insight which enables a person to perceive 
something worthy of respect in that for which pre- 
conceived notions have engendered a distaste. She 
may have been the writer of whom a critic once 
said to Sir Charles Lyell : " I wonder the author 
went so far to see disagreeable people when there 
are so many of them at home." "^ 

About the time that Mrs. Trollope, after having 
failed in a business speculation at Cincinnati, made 
much ado about trifles of etiquette and proclaimed 
the system of government in the Republic a political 
and social failure, a distinguished United States 
man of letters undertook a vindication of his 
country and countrymen. It is difficult to decide 
w^hether the attack of Mrs. Trollope, or the defence 
of Mr. Fenimore Cooper merits the prize for folly 
and unreason. In one respect. Cooper was entitled 
to make a boast which no country but his own 
could prefer at the time that he wrote. He said 
that his countrymen, "profiting by their nearly 
imshackled commerce, import everything they 

' Vol. ii. p. 295. 

* " Travels in North America," vol. i. p. 123. 



A EETROSrECT AND A COMPARISON. 281 

cTioose, and adopt, or reject its use as fancy dic- 
tates. Almost every article of foreign industry can 
be purchased here at a very small advance on the 
original cost, and in many cases even cheaper." ^ 
In those days, the United States could teach the 
backward nations of 'Europe a lesson as to the 
advantages of the free interchange of commodities. 

Mrs. Trollope's most foolish prejudices against 
the United States are outdone by Cooper's blind 
antipathy to Great Britain ; not even Mr. George 
Bancroft has distanced him in the display of malice 
and uncharitableness. He did not hesitate to allege 
that the British Government had perpetrated the 
incredible and superfluous absurdity of employing 
" mercenary pens to vituperate, in periodical 
journals of the most pretending character, a people 
they affected to despise, and of seeking itinerant 
circulators of calumny, who journeyed, or pretended 
to journey, through our States, in order to discover 
and expose the nakedness of the land."^ In thus 
writing. Cooper proved his utter incapacity for 
understanding the conduct of the British Govern- 
ment at any time and on any subject, and placed 
himself on a par, as a critic, with the French re- 
publicans who attributed all the blame of their 
failures to the " gold of Pitt." Cooper misunder- 
stood the British people also, saying that " a 
deep, settled, ignorant, and, I think an increasing 
hostility, to the people, the inhabitants, and, I fear, 
to the hopes of the United States, exists in the 
minds of the vast majority of the middling classes " 
in Great Britain.^ If he had written that the vast 

* " Notions of the Americans, by a Travelling Bachelor," vol. i. 
p. 150. • Vol. i. p. 813. ' Vol. i. p. 328. 



282 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

majority of the middle class betrayed perfect in- 
difference to the condition and future of his country, 
he would have stated a fact on which he might 
have based a rational complaint. Ignorance of the 
North American Continent has been the bane of the 
British public from the reign of Queen Elizabeth 
down to that of Queen Victoria. But ignorance is 
not synonymous with malice, nor is it necessarily a 
crime. If companionship in misfortune be a seda- 
tive or an excuse, then the ignorance of the citizens 
of the Republic about Great Britain and Ireland 
matches, only too closely, the imperfect knowledge 
and the erroneous conclusions of many inhabitants 
of the United Kingdom with regard to the United 
States. 

Cooper had an overweening opinion of his country 
and countrymen. He had never seen a nation " so 
much alike as the people of the United States, what 
is more, they are not only like each other, but they 
are remarkably like what common sense tells them 
they ought to resemble." While thus thinking, he 
deprecates criticism and he affirms, with something 
resembling a contradiction, that " no American of 
any character, or knowledge of his own country, can 
feel anything but commiseration for the man who 
has attempted to throw ridicule on a nation like 
this." The man who ridicules what is praiseworthy 
condemns himself. But the best-intentioned native 
of Europe is in a frame of mind which, according to 
Cooper, incapacitates him for comprehending the 
citizens of the North American Republic ; he avers 
that "an European can scarcely spare sufficient time 
to acquire the simplicity of habits, may I also say 
simplicity of thought, necessary to estimate our 



A KETROSPECT AISD A COMPARISON. 283 

country." ^ The notion that citizens of the Union 
are differently constituted from the rest of the 
human species may now be ranked among exploded 
superstitions. 

Within a period embracing two years before the 
appearance of Mrs. Trollope's book, and ten years 
afterwards, five noteworthy books of travel on 
the North American Continent were published in 
England. The soberest and best was Mr. James 
Stuart's " Three Years in North America." He 
had no theories to uphold or upset ; he had few 
marvels to tell ; his narrative was plain and 
straightforward, inspiring confidence by its sim- 
plicity and candour. The most brilliant were two 
from the pen of Miss Martineau, " Society in 
America," and " A Retrospect of Western Travel." 
Her weakness, if weakness can be attributed to so 
masculine a writer, was to be as much too emphatic 
on the one side as Mrs. Trollope was on the other. 
Miss Martineau set great store on the mere forms of 
Republicanism, just as Mrs. Trollope had overvalued 
the symbols and trappings of Monarchy. The dog- 
matic statement of the former that " Freemasonry is 
purely mischievous in a Republic,"" is an example of 
this. Another is her objection to the Military Aca- 
demy at West Point, ^ on the apparent ground that,- 
in a Republic, army officers are born ready trained, 
a belief which was very common during the civil 
war ; another is her denunciation of the appointment 
of judges of the Supreme Court for life, as being a 
" departure from the absolute Republican principle." ^ 

* Vol i. p. 333. ® " Society in America," vol. i. p. 36. 
^ "Retrospect of Western Travel," vol. i. p. 61. 

* " Society," vol. i. p. 55. 



284 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

When she visited the Orphan House at Charles- 
ton, she was " surprised to see the children badged, 
an anti-Republican practice which had better be 
ubolished." The first of these opinions is typical 
and serves to gauge the value of the others. Miss 
Martineau knew nothing about Freemasonry, yet 
she did not hesitate to pass judgment upon it. She 
viewed with peculiar and singular satisfaction, the 
system of" rotation in oflB.ce," and she would cherish 
as the corner-stone of tlie Republic what in reality 
has been the stumbling-block in the path of its 
statesmen. 

Miss Martineau, though sometimes foolishly un- 
compromising and dogmatic, had carefully studied 
her subject. Besides, she was far too sensible to 
pass a sweeping condemnation on a country merely 
because she saw in it some trivial blemish or acci- 
dental peculiarity. Not so was it in the case of 
Captain Basil Hall, who preceded her, or of Captain 
Hamilton and Captain Marryat, who visited the 
same country after her. The first of them has made 
a name as a writer of interesting books of travel ; 
the two others liave produced excellent works of 
fiction. Captain Hamilton said some shrewd things 
in his "Men and Manners in America;" he also 
intimated he had arrived at the conclusion that 
" the insuperable prejudice against the claims of 
primogeniture [ii> the United States] is unfavourable 
to national advancement." ^ A statement like this 
shows an absolute incapacity to estimate the social 
condiiion of that country. 

Both Captain Basil Hall and Captain Marryat 

' " Mcu and Manners in America," vol. i. p. 3GP. 



A EETROSPECT AND A COMPARISON. ^.oo 

were notable specimens of a school of naval officers 
wliich is now extinct. They had received a liberal 
education, had seen much service and many lands, 
had kept their eyes open when afloat and on shore, 
and had the gift of using their pens deftly. Both of 
them went to the United States inspired by curiosity 
about the Republic of which they had heard contra- 
dictory accounts, and desirous of communicating the 
true facts of the case to their countrymen. Captain 
Hall avers that seldom did a traveller visit " a 
foreign land in a more kindly spirit " than that which 
animated him when he disembarked at New York. 
But a spirit of bitterness quickly succeeded one of 
good feeling. He saw many things that displeased, 
and heard much that annoyed him : he grew tired of 
having to return daily answers to the question 
" What do you think of us upon the whole ? " while 
he was mortified at witnessing the dissatisfaction 
which was shown when his reply was not one of 
unqualified praise. Entering a court of law, he was 
astounded to see a chief justice seated on the bench 
without a gown enveloping his person and a wig 
covering his head. This was the first thing he saw 
which made him " distrust the wisdom with which 
the Americans had stripped away so much of what 
had been held sacred so long." Just as Martinus 
Scriblerus could not think of the Lord Mayor other- 
wise than clad in his fur gown and decked with his 
gold chain, so this experienced but simple-minded 
sailor was unable to imagine that justice could be 
administered, or the law expounded by a judge in 
plain clothes. 

"When Captain Hall sailed up the Hudson, he 
gazed on the country seats of the old patroons upon its 



286 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

bank, and mourned over the fact that there the ancient 
aristocracy is withering away, as everywhere else in 
the country, " to the great exultation of the people, 
before the blighting tempest of Democracy." ^ What 
vexed him above all was to hear the people con- 
stantly " praise themselves, their institutions, and 
their country, either in downright terms, or by some 
would-be indirect allusions, which were still more 
tormenting." Equally unbearable was " a solemn 
sort of enigmatical assumption," on their part, " of 
the intricacy and transcendent grandeur of the whole 
system not to be comprehended by weak European 
minds." He tried hard, indeed, to see things 
through other people's spectacles, but he failed 
utterly. " In spite of my own best wishes, encou- 
raged by the ardent persuasion of the Americans, I 
found all parts of the country very much alike. I 
could never in any place discover for myself, or hear 
upon good authority, anything of that peculiar 
intelligence, of that peculiar high-mindedness, so 
much insisted on by American writers, and rung 
into my ears by almost every person I met with 
from end to end of the continent." ^ Even the 
country did not find favour in his fastidious eyes : 
" A more unpicturesque country is not to be found 
elsewhere," is his sweeping and damnatory verdict. 
He was shocked at the prevalence of dram drinking, 
which he considers to be the concomitant of demo- 
cracy, and, in his opinion, " is probably not less 
hurtful to health of body, than that system of 
Government appears to be to the intellectual powers 
of the mind." ^ If he had travelled in Kussia, he 

* " Travels in North America," vol. i. p. 47. 
Vol. ii. p. 72. « Vol. ii. p. 84. 



A RETEOSPECT AND A COMPAEISON. 287 

would have found abundance of dram drinking and 
despotism, and might then have learned that demo- 
cracy is not singular in being associated with ardent 
spirits. These are a few of his objections and sam- 
ples of his criticism. He was no more successful as 
a prophet than as a critic, for he pronounced a pro- 
jected railway between Boston and Albany to be " a 
visionary project." If I had been in doubt as to his 
qualification for deciding upon the merits of the 
United States Constitution, I should have doubted 
no longer after reading that, in his opinion, the 
House of Commons, as constituted before the first 
Reform Bill became law, " could not possibly be 
made better." ^ 

Captain Marryat aimed at a still higher flight 
than Captain Hall. He states in the introduction 
to the six volumes of his " Diary," that his 
" remarks will be based on an analysis of human 
nature ; " that his object has been " to examine and 
ascertain what were the effects of a Democratic 
form of government, and climate, upon a people 
which, with all its foreign admixture, may be con- 
sidered as English." Upon one point, he had made 
up his mind : " Democracy is the form of govern- 
ment best suited to the present condition of 
America." Instead of the analysis promised in the 
introduction, many petty details, not worth re- 
tailing, are supplied in the text ; such as how two 
girls bartered their bonnets, how a tailor of Cin- 
cinnati refused to come and take his measure for a 
coat, alleging that it was anti-republican to wait on 
a customer, while there is a surfeit of the super- 

' Vol. iii. p. 412. 



288 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

fluous matter to be found in tlie least pliilosophical 
books about the United States, to tlie effect that 
the citizens eat too quickly and drink too often. 
Assertions abound in which no analytical character 
can be detected ; such as : " There never was, nor 
ever will be, anything like liberality under a 
Democratic form of government ; " " Slander and 
defamation flourish under a Democracy." 

One of the greatest evils, according to Captain 
Marryat, is the absence of an Established Church, 
the effects of an Established Church being, " to 
cement the mass, cement society and communities, 
and increase the force of those natural ties by which 
families and relations are bound together." He 
bewails the lamentable fact that the people choose 
their rulers and their clergymen, thus controlling 
the Government and fettering religion : " Add to 
this the demoralizing effects of a Democracy which 
turns the thoughts of all men to mammon, and 
it will be acknowledged that this rapid fall is not so 
very surprising."^ Mammon, like Bacchus, has 
plenty of worshippers in countries where the people 
are powerless alike over the State and the Church. 
However, Captain Marryat does not blame Demo- 
cracy for all that he dislikes and denounces in the 
United States ; he says that the cHmate is partly in 
fault ; if the chmate be to blame, then some re- 
sponsibility is taken off the citizens of the Republic. 
His views about the people, which are neither philo- 
sophical nor complimentary, he sums up as follows : 
" The character of the Americans is that of a rest- 
less, uneasy people — they cannot sit still, they can- 

* " A Diary in America," vol. iii. pp. 15, 92, 1.57. 



A liETROSPECT AND A CO:\[rARISOX. 289 

not listen attentively, unless the theme be politics 
or dollars — they must do something, and, like 
children, if they cannot do anything else, they will 
do mischief — their curiosity is unbounded, and they 
are very capricious. Acting upon impulse, they are 
very generous at one moment, and without a spark 
of charity the next. They are good-tempered, and 
possess great energy, ingenuity, bravery, and pre- 
sence of mind. Such is the estimate I have formed 
of their general character, independent of the 
demoralizing effects of their institutions, which 
renders it so anomalous."^ More extraordinary 
than all his censure is some of his praise. He 
attributes, the " fair distribution of good looks 
among the women," to the political and social 
condition of the country. The Constitution of the 
United States has been often eulogized : Captain 
Marryat is the only person who has given it the 
credit of rendering women beautiful, and upholding 
the supremacy of the better sex. He says that the 
men ought to be proud of the women, " for they are 
really good wives — much too good for them." Yet 
these women are not quite perfect : " They do not 
modulate their voices." Here Captain Marryat is at 
variance with Fenimore Cooper, who says : " The 
voices of the American females are particularly soft 
and silvery ; and I think the language, a harsh one 
at best, is made softer by our women, especially of 
the middle and southern states, than you often hear 
it in Europe."^ Other drawbacks were detected by 
Captain Marryat, who arrived at the conclusion that 
these women " have a remarkable apathy as to the 

« Vol. i\. p. 120. 

^ " Notions of a Travelling Bachelor," vol. ii. p. 133. 

U 



290 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

sufferings of others, aH indifference to loss of life, a 
fondness for politics, all of which are unfeminine ; 
and lastly, a passion for dress carried to too great 
an extent." On the other hand, and by way of set- 
off, " they have a virtue which the men have not, 
which is moral courage, and one also which is not 
common with the sex, physical courage."^ 

Captain Marryat saw little to applaud, and much 
to deplore. The wonder is that he should say any- 
thing complimentary, seeing that, in his opinion : 
" The standard of morality in America is lower than 
in any other portion of the civilized globe." This 
is a hard saying, but not harder, or more reckless, 
than the following : " There is no character so 
devoid of principle as the British soldier and 
sailor." Utterances of this emphatic and random 
kind do not inspire confidence in the writer's judg- 
ment, nor do they prepare the reader to look with 
favour on the writer's panacea for the ills which he 
records, a panacea which I give without comment : 
*' The greatest security for tlie duration of the 
present institutions of the United States is the 
establishment of an aristocracy." Captain Marryat 
begins his Diary by stating that his remarks are 
to be based on an analysis of human nature ; he 
ends it with the avowal that his object has been to 
" point out "the effects of a Democracy upon the 
morals, the happiness, and the due apportionment 
of liberty to all classes." His concluding words 
are : " If I have any way assisted the cause of Con- 
servatism, I am content." This cause has been 
greatly injured by the ill-timed help of such a 

* Vol. ii. Second Series, p. 17. 



A RETfiOSPECT AND A COMPARISON. 291 

misjudging supporter as Captain Marryat. The 
indisputable achievement of Captain Basil Hall and 
himself was to deepen the worst prejudices of the 
citizens of the United States towards Englishmen, 
to increase international misconceptions, and to 
throw obstacles in the path of the good and un- 
biassed men and women on both sides of the 
Atlantic who were striving to substitute amity for 
undiscerning rancour, and kindliness for distrust 
and jealousy. 

While Captain Hamilton and Mrs. Trollope, Captain 
Hall and Captain Marryat were actively employed 
in demonstrating to all intelligent readers their 
utter incompetence to pass judgment on the North 
American Republic, De Tocqueville was engaged in 
preparing the book which entitled him to be ranked 
with Montesquieu. Democracy in America, like the 
Spirit of Laws, has many faults ; the generalizations 
frequently betray an imperfect apprehension of 
facts ; the appreciation of the social forces which 
have caused the results under discussion is either 
defective, or wanting altogether ; the predictions of 
what the future will bring forth have been signally 
falsified by events, and they now seem to the most 
sympathetic reader to be ludicrously absurd. What 
has given De Tocqueville a deserved and undying 
fame is not so much the views which he has 
enunciated, or even the exquisite style in which he 
has set forth his thoughts and facts, as the 
admirable and thoroughly philosophic spirit in 
which his pen has done its work. He did not visit 
the United States, like some of his countrymen, to 
find the realization of a beautiful dream, nor like 
many of mine to find clap-trap arguments in con- 

u 2 



292 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

demnation of free government, but in order to 
ascertain the quality of the fruit yielded by fair 
freedom's tree, and to give a faithful report of his 
investigation. He states his case and distributes 
praise or blame with the laudable impartiality of 
a righteous judge, who has listened with patience 
and digested with care the arguments on both sides 
of a given question. The decision which he pro- 
nounces is unalloyed either by mocking temper or 
despicable bias. The undiscerning partisan of 
Democracy, who fancies that the multitude are 
gifted with supreme wisdom, can turn to the pages 
of De Tocqueville for a corroboration of his faith in 
the divinity of numbers ; Sir Robert Peel recom- 
mended the masterpiece of the great Frenchman to 
the electors of Tamworth as the authority from 
which irrefragable facts could be drawn about the 
intolerable tyranny of tlie majority where the people 
exercise unlimited sway. Charged with being a 
revolutionist by the upholders of the divine right 
of bad rulers, and with being an aristocrat of the 
worst type by unappeasable demagogues, De Tocque- 
ville really belonged to the select band of philo- 
sophic politicians which is repelled by the dogmatic 
assumptions of the prejudiced, and the idle shibbo- 
leths of the ignorant, which dreads nothing so 
much as a political cataclysm and loves nothing 
more ardently than orderly political improvement. 

The work of De Tocqueville on the United States 
forms an era in the literature of travel in that 
country. Before he wrote, men and women thought 
it no shame to indite meaningless diatribes against 
what displeased them there, and to give the name of 
books of travel to mere party pamphlets. Many 



A EETROSrECT AND A COMPARISON. 293 

silly books were written by persons wlio tliouglit 
they had a mission to make fun of the Yankees, and 
who had been sent into the world by an over-ruling 
Providence to compete with equally silly persons 
who came from the United States in order to ofive 
fantastic accounts aboi:^ the British Isles. While as 
regards breadth of view, keenness of insight, ad- 
miration of what is praiseworthy, appreciation of 
all that is noteworthy and noble in the constitution, 
the customs and the character of the British people, 
Mr. Emerson showed himself as philosophic in 
judging one side of the Atlantic, as De Toqueville 
the other ; and while Hawthorne, the exquisite 
novelist, followed in Mr. Emerson's steps without 
rivalling his performance, other writers showed that 
malevolence and stupidity are not the growths of 
British soil exclusively. A single sample of this will 
suffice. Not even Mrs. Trollope at her worst ever said 
anything more ridiculous than the following in Mr. 
Ward's English Items, or Mlcvoscojnc Views of Eng- 
land and Englishnen. Discussing the unpleasant 
topic of expectoration, he says : "I contend that it 
is superlatively disgusting to the English merely be- 
cause it is an American habit. Hating us with an 
intensity that helpless rage can only know, it is 
their highest delight to cavil at us, and finding 
nothing more serious to object to, cur earliest 
traducers seized upon tliis, and each hireling caterer 
to the morbid feeling against America in England 
attempts a facetious improvement on the stereo- 
typed jokes of his predecessors." 

Passing over the books which are simply non- 
sensical, the number of those which repaid perusal 
when they appeared and which still instruct the 



294 COLUMTUA AND CANADA. 

student of history, is very large. Among tliem 
may be cited Dr. Charles Mackay's Life and 
Liberty in America, a genial narrative of interest- 
ing experiences : if the author had not revisited the 
country at a critical time, and misinterpreted the 
problem which was then in process of solution, his 
reputation as a judicious observer would have been 
greater than it is. Mr. Sala, a brilliant and 
kindly writer, would have rendered his Diary in the 
Midst of War still more notable by a sympathy 
with the cause which was certain to prevail. In his 
Civilized America, Mr. Grattan gave much useful 
information, the result of twenty years' sojourn in 
Boston as British Consul ; unfortunately, however, 
he judged the social arrangements too frequently by 
a standard taken from his previous residence on the 
continent of Europe. Mr. Chester, in his Trans- 
atlantic Sketches, gave expression to the remark- 
able discovery that a good choral service for the 
cadets at West Point would go far to remedy what 
he considered amiss in the Republic. Mr. Rose, a 
writer of talent, led the readers of his Great 
Country to suppose that the Roman Catholic 
churches and congregations there chiefly deserved 
commendation. Mr. Hilary Skinner, whose After 
the Storm is a lively and intelligent picture of the 
United States at the close of the Great Civil War, 
merits a place of honour among the travellers who 
have crossed the Atlantic. Sir Charles Dilke, in his 
Greater Britain, passed judgment on the United 
States with an acuteness of perception and a 
sympathy with what ought to be held in respect, 
which are rare in those persons who have criticized 
and coraniented on the North American Republic. 



A EETROSPECT AND A COMrARISON. ZVb 

I have reserved for separate mention tlie books 
of travel by two novelists, one of whom is fore- 
most among the greatest of modern times. The 
American Notes, of Dickens, displeased many 
persons in the United States. In this case the 
fault was in the reader. The book was unpre- 
tentious ; not a word in it had been set down in 
unkindness, though several passages were the 
reverse of flattering. It contained a good deal of 
exaggeration verging on caricature; but this was 
the manner in which Dickens dealt with home as 
well as foreign topics. Any one who calmly peruses 
it now in a proper spirit will wonder that it was 
ever the subject of bitter animadversion. The truth 
is that another kind of book was expected from the 
pen of the great novelist. Far more unpalatable 
things set forth in Martin Ghuzzhwit, gave less 
annoyance, or rather caused less disappointment. 
His real triumph is to have secured more admirers 
in the United States than in any other English- 
speaking land, a triumph which is equally creditable 
to both parties. 

Mr. Anthony Trollope is a popular living novelist. 
He has successfully competed with his mother as a 
writer of fiction and of books of travel. One of the 
latter, entitled North America, cannot be classed 
among his best productions. Writing in 1862, Mr. 
Trollope failed to forecast the issue of the deadly 
struggle between freedom and autocracy, between 
the partisans of the equality of all men before the 
law and the upholders of the inequality of negroes. 
He disbelieved in a result which was inevitable, and 
dreaded a conclusion which no sensible on-looker 
could regret. As a critic, Mr. Trollope was far less 



296 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

biassed than his mother; he had no pecuniary faihire 
to ascribe to the people of the Repubhc ; he had sur- 
vived the Reform Bill and learned that anarchy is not 
the sure consequence of extending the suffrage in the 
United Kingdom. Yet the aversions to which he gives 
frank utterance resemble those of his mother : " I 
dislike universal suffrage ; I dislike vote by ballot ; 
I dislike above all things the tyranny of demo- 
cracy." ^ Since he wrote these words, he has seen 
the suffrage made nearly universal at home ; he has 
seen the ballot become the law of the land, and he 
has not perceived any diminution of the happiness 
of the people or failure to appreciate his excellent 
novels. It is undeniable that he had a reason to 
complain of the tone which prevailed among some 
of the people with whom he associated. They told 
him certain things which were at once extraordinary 
and distasteful, such as : " That Wellington was 
beaten at Waterloo ; that Lord Palmerston was so 
unpopular that he could not walk alone in the 
streets; that the House of Commons was an acknow- 
ledged failure ; that starvation was the normal con- 
dition of the British people, and that the Queen was 
a bloodthirsty tyrant." * However, these tokens of 
perverse ignorance ought not to have been presented 
as proofs of ill-feeling. Mr. Trollope is rather 
exacting. He passes summary and unqualified con- 
demnation on the hotels of the United States ; he is 
as ruthless in judging the newspaper press, saying : 
*' In the whole length and breadth of the United 
States there is not published a single newspaper 
which seems to me to be worthy of praise. . . They 

' " Noitli America," vol. ii. p. 109. * Vol. ii. p. 174. 



A EETltOSPECT AND A COMPAKISON. 297 

are ill-written, ill-printed, ill-arranged, and, in fact, 
are not readable."^ While difficult to please abroad, 
lie is not more easily satisfied at home ; for, in his 
opinion, " a really good newspaper. ... is still to 
be desired in Great Britain." " He affirms that he 
has " ever admired the United States as a nation." 
That nation might reasonably pray to be spared the 
irritation of his candid friendship. 

Sir Charles Lyell, whose travels on the Continent 
of North America belong to a class apart, remarks 
that : "As politicians, no people are so prone to give 
way to groundless fears and despondency respecting 
the prospect of affairs in America as the English, 
partly because they know little of the conditions of 
society there, and partly from their own well- 
founded conviction, that a near approach to uni- 
versal suffrage at home would lead to anarchy and 
insecurity of property." ^ A corresponding mis- 
placed commiseration was manifested in the United 
States towards England at an earlier day. Writing 
in 1788, Dr. Noah Webster observes, " I am sensible 
that the Americans are much concerned for the 
liberties of the British nation ; and the Act for 
making Parliaments Septennial is often mentioned 
as an arbitrary, oppressive Act, destructive of Eng- 
lish liberty. . . I wish my countrymen would believe 
that other nations understand and can guard 
their privileges, without any lamentable outcries 
from this side of the Atlantic." ^ The people on 
both sides of the Atlantic have upheld their liberties 
despite all the gloomy forebodings and sinister pre- 

' Vol. ii. pp. 423, 427 « Vol. ii. pp. 424, 425. 

' " Travels in North America," First Series, vol. i. p. 227. 
* " Essays and Fugitive Writings," p. GO. 



298 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

dictions of distracted and feeble-minded critics. Sir 
Charles Lyell had the acuteness to perceive certain 
mistakes of his countrymen, but he was not able to 
avoid all their errors. Twenty years have elapsed 
since his words were penned ; during that period the 
suffrage has been extended to a degree which he 
thought perilous, still there are no signs of the 
anarchy which he foresaw or of the general spolia- 
tion which he considered inevitable. It is true, 
however, that some persons are still prone to fancy 
tlia North American Republic to be in imminent 
peril from a bugbear of their imaginations. At one 
moment, they say that the decisive hour has arrived 
because a civil war has broken out; at another, they 
see a crisis pregnant with woe and destruction, 
because the result of a presidential election is in dis- 
pute. Yet the Constitutions of the United Kingdom 
and the United States survive the jeers of detractors 
and the faint-hearted support of timorous friends, 
being fraught with the strength which can with- 
stand a shock and the vitality which survives a 
disaster. 

Republican institutions are commonly supposed 
to be inefficient, unstable, and short-lived. Such is 
the conclusion at which many persons have arrived 
after reading about the Republics of ancient Greece 
and Rome, and of Italy during the Middle Ages. It 
was generally supposed, at the establishment of the 
Republic in North America, that the blunders and 
shortcomings of the Republics of antiquity would be 
repeated, that liberty would soon be succeeded by 
licence, and that licence would be crushed alonn: 
with liberty, under the heel of a tyrant. This 



A RETROSPECT AND A COMPARISON. 299 

expectation was strengthened by what occurred in 
Europe a few years later ; then it was confidently 
predicted that the Revolution in France was an 
ensample of the drama which would speedily be 
played on the American Continent, and the natural 
prelude to it. 

The cause of free and beneficent government in 
Europe has sustained greater detriment from the so- 
called liepublican Administrations in France than 
from any other events in modern history Each has 
been a screaming farce in the opinion of the cynic, 
and a mournful tragedy in the opinion of the philo- 
sopher. The first was the most tragic and inde- 
fensible; it was a carnival of slaughter, an orgy, 
headed in turn by the demon of unreason and the 
lord of misrule. It furnished reasons to justify 
the sarcasm of Mr. Herbert Spencer, that modern 
democracy is old despotism differently spelt. After 
the autocratic rule of the king had been successfully 
transformed into a constitutional monarchy; after 
the constitutional monarchy had been abolished 
simply for the sake of change, Lewis XVI. beheaded, 
because he was a king by hereditary descent, and in 
order that monarchs, whom a like accident had 
placed upon a throne, might take warning by his 
fate, and Mary Antoinette beheaded also because she 
was a king's wife; after nobles, who had voluntarily 
surrendered their hereditary privileges, had been 
executed by the hundred because they had inherited 
and enjoyed them; after the established religion had 
been abolished as a malignant relic of monarchy, and 
its priests compelled to renounce the exercise of their 
sacerdotal functions under the penalty of exile or 
death, so that they miglit clearly perceive how com- 



300 COLUMDIA AND CANADA. 

pletely tlie vile days of superstition and religious 
intolerance had vanished ; after the unoffending 
seasons and days of the week had received new 
names, and were reckoned after a new fashion ; 
after a republican clock, with the hours divided into 
tenths, had been set up over the Tuileries, in order 
that the emancipated citizens whom the Republican 
guillotine had spared might have a visible recurring 
proof of the comprehensiveness of the alterations 
which had been made ; after the trammels of old 
civility had been discarded, and men were compelled 
to use the term " citizen " when addressing their 
neighbours, and when the happy time finally arrived 
at which notliing was wanting to a scene of unpre- 
cedented confusion and distrust, its delighted authors 
resolved to confer upon all the nations of the earth 
the blessings of which their fellow-countrjanen had 
a monopoly. Some countries showed an unaccount- 
able aversion to the attempts which were made to 
civihze them, and even resisted by force of arms : 
the Republican philanthropists of regenerated France 
were not the men to be thwarted when on an errand 
of frati^rnity. In the name of holy liberty and 
blessed peace, they carried the sword and the torch 
throughout Europe ; when tired but not sated of 
slaughter, they incorporated into the Republic the 
ravaged lands of the vanquished. While earnestly 
engaged in their apostolic mission they were inter- 
rupted by Bonaparte assuming the title of Emperor 
and the habits of a tyrant, amid the acclamations of 
Republicans who had blustered about the rights of 
man, and had trodden liberty under foot whenever 
they could do so with impunity. 

The. second French Republic, like the first, sue- 



A RETROSPECT AND A COilPARISON. 301 

ceeded a constitutional monarchy. The creation of 
a few speeches, it was maintained by oratory till the 
time came for it to be betrayed by its president, just 
as the first had been strangled by a consul. Before 
the second Republic had paved the way for a second 
empire, it had managed to annihilate the infant Re- 
public of Rome. 

The third Republic came into the world, at the 
bidding of a delirious Parisian mob, on the morrow 
of a great national disaster. Under this free 
Government, any citizen may summon a public 
meeting if the police give him permission ; he may 
print whatever he pleases in a newspaper, provided 
he publish nothing offensive to those in authority. 
The duration of this nominal Republic depends 
upon the desire of the people of France to live under 
it. If they really understand that the want of their 
country is not a saviour but self-government, then 
they will uphold the third Republic, and convert it 
into a government worthy in all its parts of a free 
people. 

Between the Republic in North America and 
other modern Republics, that of Switzerland alone 
excepted, there is not and there never has been any 
similarity in essence, constitution, and aim. Like 
the British Constitution, it is " broad-based upon the 
people's will." It is as natural a growth of the soil 
as the forests which once overspread the land. Its 
definite form has been the result of a natural process 
of evolution. Long before the Constitution of the 
United States was framed the people exercised self- 
government, and were trained to the practice of self- 
help in the colonies, which were republics in all but 
the name. The chief product of the Revolution was 



302 COLUMIifA AND CANADA. 

a new flag and a ruler who, with the title of Presi- 
dent, fulfilled the functions of King. The most 
revolutionary proposals of any citizens of the United 
States were firstly, that Hebrew should be sub- 
stituted for English ; and secondly, if English were 
retained, that the letters should be turned upside 
down. The most foolish thing done with a patriotic 
intent, was the compilation of a dictionary in which 
the words were spelled so as to have an un-English 
look. Planting trees of liberty, cutting off the heads 
of those persons w4io were disliked by the occupants 
of official posts, a general subversion of society and 
social customs, never occurred to Washington and 
Franklin as indispensable preliminaries to the esta- 
blishment of a form of administration in which the 
multitude was to be the recognized Sovereign. In 
truth, the United States Republic has nothing in 
common with those fungus Governments which wax 
great in a single night, and wither in a day. It is a 
goodly tree of slow growth and mature development 
which dates from the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and 
was planted by Sir Walter Raleigh. 

When a Republic is in question, there is much or 
little in a name. Some Frenchmen are not only 
satisfied but overjoyed when they live under a 
government to which the name of a Republic is given 
in official documents. Such a government may be 
as tyrannical in maintaining what is called law and 
order as any so-called saviour of society; the 
country may be ruled from Paris, through the 
arbitrary intervention of prefects, with as much con- 
tempt for personal independence as if a Bourbon 
or a Bonaparte were on the throne. These men 
are pleased, however, so long as crimes against 



A EETROSPECT AND A COMPAEISON. 303 

liberty are perpetrated in the name of a Re- 
public. 

As to the genuineness of the Republic in jSTorth 
America, there never has been any doubt ; yet, so 
long as its aegis was thrown over the crime of 
slavery, it was impossible for its well-wishers in this 
country to refrain from adverse and uncompli- 
mentary criticism. Some of the bitterest things 
said by travellers on the American continent were 
inspired by their laudable detestation of slavery, and 
their observation of its vicious effects. These ex- 
pressions of opinion gave dire offence to thousands 
in the United States, who heartily sympathized with 
the poor slaves, but who could not brook fault- 
finding from a British pen. Others in this country, 
who regarded any Republic as a sort of political 
volcano, lived in constant dread of the mischief 
which might be wrought by that in North America, 
notwithstanding the distance which separated it 
from the British Isles, and they apprehended that, 
at any moment, and in an insidious manner, British 
institutions might be what they called " Ameri- 
canized." The latter dread is now extinct. If our 
constitution were to be "Americanized" it would 
be rendered far less democratic than it is; the 
monarch would regain the personal power which 
George III. usurped, but which no Sovereign will 
exercise again. The British Constitution is now re- 
stored to its pristine purity, and promises to remain 
the charter and the glory of a free people when half 
the capitals of Europe are as Nineveh and Palmyra. 

While the Republic in North America has been 
regarded with suspicion or imperfect appreciation 
for the reasons assigned, it has also suffered from 



304 COLUMDIA AND CANADA. 

over-laudation. To proclaim to all the world 
that a particular form of government is absolutely 
perfect is an invitation to tlie sensible portion 
of mankind to inquire what are its undoubted 
defects. Well-meaning but foolish persons used 
to think that they discharged a patriotic duty 
in repejiting that the British Constitution was the 
quintessence of human wisdom, and the envy of 
those persons who did not live under it. Happily, 
the day is gone by when irrational boasting of this 
sort can be heard with patience. Sensible persons 
who are conscious of the excellencies of that Con- 
stitution readily admit that it is capable of amend- 
ment ; they rejoice to think that, without detriment 
to its spirit, it can be easily and rapidly moulded 
to suit the wants of the revolving ages. Its 
unrivalled merit consists in an elasticity which 
cannot be matched, and an adaptability which can- 
not be surpassed. If it be true that the Consti- 
tution of the United States is beyond improvement, 
and ought to be admired without reserve, it is clear 
that its difference from that of Great Britain is 
fundamental. Such is the character given to it by 
Mr. Edward Everett, one of the orators whom the 
citizens of Massachusetts considered incomparable, 
and a statesman upon whom they conferred the 
highest honours in their gift. In one of his care- 
fully-prepared addresses he says : " We are author- 
ized to assert that the era of our independence 
dates the establishment of the only perfect organi- 
zation of Government." . . . . " Our Government 
is in its theory perfect, and in its operation it is 
perfect also. Thus we have solved the great 
problem in human affairs." . . . . " A frame of 



A EBTBOSPECT AND A COMPARISON. 305 

government perfect in its principles, has been 
brought down from the airy region of Utopia, and 
has found a local habitation and a name in our 
country." These passages were composed and 
spoken when slavery was a cherished institution of 
the United States. Nor was Mr. Everett alone in 
holding the opinion that everything had been 
ordered for the best in the Republic, which was 
perfect in theory and perfect in operation. 

In the introduction to his History of the United 
States, written in 1834 and recently reprinted, Mr. 
George Bancroft recounts the peculiar glories of his 
great country. He proudly says that nothing is 
wanting in the land over which a favouring Pro- 
vidence has uniformly watched : " There is no 
national debt ; the community is opulent ; the Go- 
vernment economical ; and the public treasury full." 
Forgetting the fact of slavery at the time he penned 
the following words, he contends that the United 
States "have the precedence in the practice and 
defence of the equal rights of man." Contrasting 
his own nation with the nations of Europe, he says 
that while they " aspire after change, our Consti- 
tution engages the fond admiration of the people, 
by which it was established. . . . Other Govern- 
ments are convulsed by the innovations and reforms 
of neighbouring states ; our Constitution, fixed in 
the affections of the people, from whose choice it 
has sprung, neutralizes the influences of foreign 
principles, and fearlessly opens an asylum to the 
virtuous, the unfortunate, and the oppressed of 
every nation."^ Since Mr. Bancroft wrote this in- 

" Jntrotluetioii to tlio Centenary Edition of the " History of the 
United States." By George Bancroft 

X 



306 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

troduction, tlie immutable Constitution lias been 
transformed : the fourteeiDtli and fifteenth amend- 
ments have rendered it the great charter of a united 
nation; when he penned his eulogium, it was but 
the charter of men who boasted of having no stain 
of black blood in their veins or on their skin. 
Instead of sneering at the nations of Europe on 
account of the innovations and reforms which they 
have accepted or devised in their systems of govern- 
ment, Mr. Bancroft would have exhibited more 
philosophy, and greater appreciation of what is 
praiseworthy, had he pointed out how changes in 
national constitutions are concomitants of a coun- 
try's growth and development, resembling the 
changes in the human frame from infancy to 
maturity. 

The real drawback in the existing system of 
government in the United States is that a power 
has obtained an influence which thwarts the inde- 
pendent action of the Constitution. Many a United 
States patriot who thinks of the interests of his 
country and has no personal end in view, whose 
hands are spotless and whose aims are laudable, is 
as helpless as if he were a citizen of the moon. 
These true lovers of their country are numbered by 
the thousand ; all of them are inspired with a noble 
ambition to counteract the designs and doings of 
professional and knavish politicians, and to secure 
a pure and praiseworthy administration of public 
affairs. Yet such men cannot work together with 
the unanimity of rascals whose object is to dip their 
foul hands into the public purse and who are in- 
different to the fame of their country so long as 
they are enriched. For nearly a century, the Union 



A RETROSPECT AND A COMPARISON. 307 

pined under the incubus of slavery : at present, its 
aspirations towards a happier state are counteracted 
by the malign effects of party tactics and disciphne. 
The people, though nominally supreme, appear to 
be impotent. Like Gulliver in the toils of the Lilli- 
putians, they are encompassed with a network of 
rules and arrangements which hinders them from 
moving as their fancy dictates. The election of a 
particular man to a particular office is primarily due 
to those men who nominate him ; some electors are 
the mere puppets of party managers. If the best 
men are not uniformly elected, that does not prove 
Democracy to be a farce or a failure, it merely 
indicates that Democracy has been hoodwinked or 
outwitted. For years the people compromised with 
the upholders of slavery rather than give logical 
effect to their convictions. Party misgovernment 
may be tolerated in like manner for a long time, yet 
it will share the fate of slavery when the people 
think fit to pronounce its doom. 

The Fathers of the Republic, if they had beheld 
it in the grandeur and pride of its centenary, would 
have been still more surprised after comparing their 
native land with the other countries of the civilized 
globe. Most of them died in the belief that time's 
latest birth was the most extraordinary and eventful, 
that the star of empire had undoubtedly moved 
westward, that the old nations of Europe were 
hastening to swift decay. The first century of the 
existence of the Republic, during which its area has 
been widened and its power consolidated, has seen 
a degree of progress in Europe equally marked and 
marvellous : nations which Franklin considered in a 



308 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

state of irremediable decrepitude having renewed 
tlieir youth, and moved with a steady and untiring 
pace, alongside of their sanguine and lusty competitor, 
in the march of improvement. The Europe of a 
hundred years ago has been transformed as completely 
as the constitution of the United States and the face 
of the North American continent. 

France, which avenged the overthrow of Montcalm 
at Quebec by securing the capitulation of Cornwallis 
at Yorktown, has undergone many vicissitudes since 
then, has soared high in the elation of great triumphs 
and been humiliated in the dust by crushing reverses, 
has been the victor before whom proud nations have 
trembled and the vanquished tyrant to whom these 
nations have prescribed humiliating terms, has 
conquered when men predicted that her strength 
was illusory, and been overthrown when the belief 
in her strength was universal, has astounded the 
world by unexampled fortitude in the dark hour of 
bitter trial and unexpected mishap, maintaining her 
prestige after disasters under which less favoured 
nations would have succumbed. Italy has been con- 
verted from a name in ancient history and in modern 
geography into one of the Great Powers of Europe. 
Germany, which in former days was but a congeries 
of petty principalities without cohesion and without 
a head, has become an empire hardly less powerful 
and compact than the defunct empire of Rome. By 
the abolition of serfdom, Russia has acquired a title 
to something more admirable than that of an empire 
in which real barbarism was concealed under a little 
French polish. Holland still confines herself, as in 
the days when she was the banker of the struggling 
Republic in America, to making money in place of 



A EETROSPECT AND A COMPARISON. 309 

aiming at conquests ; she lias seen the kingdom of 
Belgium carved out of her territory almost without 
a sigh. The Fathers of the Republic might regard 
with interest the success which has attended the 
adaptation of the British constitution to the latter 
kingdom. They would see with satisfaction that 
Greece was no longer in subjection to the Turk, 
though they might regret that this historic kingdom 
enjoyed independence at the expense of its creditors. 
They would find Spain stripped of her vast 
possessions in South America and expending her 
energies, not in attempts at universal conquest, but 
in periodical revolutions. Turning to the old 
Spanish Colonies which are now petty Republics, 
they would seriously doubt whether the anarchy 
prevailing among them is an actual improvement on 
the despotism of earlier days. They would observe 
with natural surprise that an empire in Soutli 
America had set an example to all these Republics in 
financial honesty and in good government, and 
prospered equally whether its head be at home or 
travelling in distant lands. If they inquired about 
the Republic of Liberia they would learn, with 
mingled feelings, that negroes had established it 
and had imitated one of the worst blunders of white 
men by ordaining that none but a negro should hold 
office. In their survey of the world they would 
behold the British Empire at every turn. Franklin 
likened that empire to a beautiful china vase which, 
when once broken was rendered unattractive and 
valueless. In his eyes, the secession of the Thirteen 
Colonies had given a shock to it from which recovery 
was impossible ; before he died he thought that it 
had become a splendid fragment of a magnificent 



310 ■ COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

wliole. Since then it has absorl)ecl the empire of the 
Moguls and found in Austrahisia and South Africa, 
in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the Pacific 
such an accession of territory and renown as would 
have astounded the sedate philosopher of Philadelphia. 
Yet the present vastness of that empire would be 
less opposed to the preconceived notions of the 
Fathers of tlie Republic than the manner in which it 
is now governed. They would find a colonial policy 
in operation of which the leading principle is to 
permit the colonists to have their own way in their 
own concerns, and of which the result has been to 
make the subjects of Queen Victoria on the continents 
of Nortli America, Australasia, South Africa, and in 
the islands of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian 
Oceans, the most enthusiastic and energetic upholders 
of the fabric of the empire over whicli she rules. 
The changes in the Parliament of the United 
Kingdom would appear to them almost incredible ; 
they would be inclined to doubt the testimony of 
their senses. Writing to Dr. Price in 1780, 
Franklin pronounced the Parliamentary abuses to be 
beyond the reach of ordinary remedies, a revolution 
being the only cure, and this he considered the people 
too craven to achieve. In default of such a heroic 
remedy being employed, he predicted that the nation 
would continue " to be plundered and obliged to pay, 
by taxes, the plunderers for plundering and ruining." 
Without any more serious revolution than that which 
can be eff*ccted by a few Acts of Parliament, what 
Franklin deemed alike indispensable and impossible 
has been accomplished. These twin sisters of 
iniquity, parliamentary corruption and government 
patronage, are now among the traditions of an age 



A RETEOSPECT AND A COMPAEISON. 311 

about wliicli tbe rising generation in this country 
reads with a mixture of astonishment and increduhty. 
A legislature more free than that of Britain from the 
taint or even the suspicion of corruption does not 
exist. The representation of the people is not yet 
theoretically perfect ; it would be difficult, however, 
to name any other nation wherein the popular control 
over its rulers is more direct and complete than in 
the United Kingdom. Nowhere can personal merit 
succeed with greater ease and certainty in obtaining 
an office of honour and emolument in the military 
or civil service of the country ; it is sufficient to pass 
the requisite examination to obtain a commission in 
the army or a place under government. If George 
the Third were to unite with the Fathers of the 
Republic in comparing the present condition of his 
country and theirs, he would unquestionably arrive 
at the conclusion that the power which he loved to 
exercise and the patronage which he liked to 
dispense, could alone be enjoyed in full measure at 
Washington, and that if he wished to act as a 
Sovereign after his own heart, he must become 
President of the United States. Having made them- 
selves thoroughly acquainted with the existing condi- 
tion of the civilized world, the Fathers of the Re- 
public might ask themselves whether they ought not 
to modify some old opinions and disavow certain pre- 
judices which they once cherished as incontrovertible 
truths. That the North American Republic was a 
light shining in the darkness, that its constitution 
first proclaimed and secured the rights of man, that 
the rest of tbe world had been mired in a slough of 
ignorance and misery from which extrication was well- 
nigh impossible, was the dismal creed of the founders 



312 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

of the United States, and of their immediate 
successors. They were convinced that the keys of 
the future had been given by a favouring Providence 
into their hands, that they had been predestined 
to teach the nations how to Uve. The United 
States occupy a conspicuous place in the grand pro- 
cession of the nations ; but they have not led the 
van. 

In the performances which constitute the merit 
and glory of a people, the progenitor of the United 
States can still afford to challenge rivalry. She was 
foremost in abolishing slavery. In relieving trade 
and commerce from the shackles of a selfish and 
immoral policy, which generally assumes the seduc- 
tive disguise of true patriotism, she took a step in 
advance which no nation has yet had the boldness to 
follow. Franklin advocated the freedom of industry ; 
Washington fought, and fought successfully for it. 
When the suggestion is now made by British writers 
that the original policy of the great Republic should 
prevail, many of its citizens denounce the proposal as 
insidious, and sneer at Free trade fanatics, to whom 
purity of motive is denied, just as it was to the 
abolitionists of New England who were formerly 
persecuted to the death, chiefly because their argu- 
ments were borrowed from Great Britain. Those 
persons who believe that the world is ruled by 
moral forces, who hold that the truth must prevail 
against the protected manufacturer as it has done 
against the protected slaveholder, who condemn 
the slavery of the pocket as well as that of the 
person, who sympathize with the consumer suffer- 
ing from the blight of protection just as they did 
with the poor dark-skinned producer who groaned 



A KETROSPECT AND A COMPAEISON. 313 

under the yoke of slavery, can afford to wait in 
patience tlie inevitable end, being certain that justice 
is omnipotent. 

Fiscal policy apart, with which patriotic citizens 
of the United States are fully competent to deal, the 
desires and ideals of the two great sections of what 
is called the Anglo-Saxon race are one in essence 
and aim. If the brotherhood of man be not a mere 
phrase, and if the natural affinity of kindred races 
be the paramount factor in civilization that philor'o- 
phers allege, then that race should agree to work in 
concert for a common end. A wish to do so is the 
first requisite. About the readiness of the United 
Kingdom to co-operate in the benign work, there can 
be no question. Indeed, this has been demonstrated 
by speeches from statesmen of the highest class, 
such as Earl Granville, Mr. John Bright, and Mr. 
W. E. Forster; by addresses and writings of men of 
letters and science, such as Lord Houghton, Mr. 
R. H. Hutton, Mr. Thomas Hughes, Mr. Edward 
Dicey, Sir Charles Dilke, Professor Huxley, and 
Professor Tyndall ; of divines like Dean Stanley, 
Principal Tulloch, and Dr. Martineau ; of great 
philosophers, such as Mr. Herbert Spencer and the 
late John Stuart Mill. Nor can one political 
party now lay claim to a monopoly of right 
feeling in this matter. No more friendly or more 
judicious speeches have ever been uttered in our day 
about the United States than those which the Earl of 
Beaconsfield, Lord Derby, Lord Carnarvon, and Sir 
Stafiford Northcote have delivered. Most significant 
of all, not as a mere harbinger, but as a confirmation 
of change, was an admirable article in the Quarterly 
Bevieiu for July, 1876. In that venerable organ of 

T 



314 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

Englisli Conservatism, the career of the Repubhc in 
North America was sketched in an appreciative 
spirit and the wish was enunciated that a cordial 
and close association between the two English-speak- 
ing powers of the earth should be substituted for 
the mutual misunderstanding and jealousy which 
marred their relations in bygone days. 

These expressions of amity are heartily recipro- 
cated by the most cultured citizens of the United 
States. They know, as the noble poet, Whittier, 
has finely phrased it, that — 

" Thicker than water, in one rill, 

Through centuries of story, 
Our Saxon blood has flow'd, and still 
We share with you the ^ood and ill, 

The shadow and the glory." 

One thing, however, is lacking. The people of 
the United States are wont to pride themselves on 
their dissimilarity from their fellows in the land 
of their forefathers ; they exaggerate the trivial 
points of difference and overlook the substan- 
tial facts of resemblance between the Governments 
under which both have flourished, being apparently 
unaware how much rational monarchy is sanctioned 
by the Constitution of the United States and how 
much rational Republicanism is contained in the 
British Constitution. Till the school books, from 
which children born in the great Republic arc taught 
the annals of their country, shall be recast in a 
spirit the reverse of that which has hitherto animated 
their compilers, many incidents which ought to be 
allowed to sink into oblivion will continue to foster 
mischievous errors and almost ineradicable prejudices 
in youthful minds. 



A EETEOSPECT AND A COMPARISON. 31 5 

I disbelieve in tlie specific virtue of a treaty. An 
ambitious nation can dispense with a declaration of 
good intentions wlien resolved to maintain harmony 
with its equal in power and spirit. Never has a 
nation, bent upon waging war and confident of vic- 
tory, been frustrated by diplomatic protests against 
a breach of solemn stipulations. Irrational and 
sanguinary wars have originated in an alleged disre- 
gard of some article in the treaty which not only 
restored peace to countries lamenting treasure 
squandered, resources impaired and hearths made 
desolate, but which was also designed to serve as 
a covenant of perpetual friendship. What the de- 
spoiled and perplexed Seminole Chief said of treaties 
between a nation of white men and a tribe of Indians 
applies to treaties in general : " The white man's 
for ever does not last lons^ enousfh." 

If a closer tie is to bind together the two English- 
speaking nations, something more durable than a 
treaty ought to form the nexus between them. A 
great scheme of Confederation has been proposed ; 
but no agreement as to its terms has yet been 
arrived at. Better than any treaty, far simpler than 
such a scheme, and a prelude to the adoption of one 
hereafter, would be an Act of the Parliament of the 
United Kingdom and an Amendment to the Consti- 
tution of the United States, giving to citizens of the 
Republic, and subjects of Queen Victoria common 
citizenship in the Anglo-American Empire. In- 
cluding subsidiary yet indispensable details, such a 
change would be significant rather than great. 
After, as before it, the two countries would preserve 
their identity and independence ; but their inhabi- 
tants could then cherish the assurance that they 



316 COLUMBIA AND CANADA. 

stood in closer fellowship to eacli other than to the 
rest of the human race, and that, though repre- 
yenting two nations, they were in reality but one 
people. Continuing to be rivals everywhere, they 
would cease to be aliens throughout that vast area 
of the globe where the Star-spangled banner and 
the Union Jack bear witness that it is consecrated 
to freedom. 

The land of Abraxa, under the wise administration 
of Utopus, was transformed into the happy Re- 
jmblic, and has since then borne his name. That 
community, though far from perfect, is constantly 
cited as the type of what good men desire, and what 
no man can accomplish. It is needless to aim at 
re})eating the imaginary achievement of Utopus in 
order to increase the sum of human well-being. If 
the people of the North American Republic and 
of the British Empire were uniformly to act in con- 
formity and concord, on all questions of international 
relationship, they would not only advance their own 
interests, pursue their noblest aspirations and set 
an inestimable example, but they would also mate- 
rially contribute to justify the hopes of ardent and 
sanguine philanthropists that, in a happier and 
more enlightened future, mankind will rejoice over 
the peaceable establishment of the United States 
of the World. When all nations agree to dwell 
together in unity. Paradise will be regained. 

THE END. 



V 



GILBEET AND EITINGTON, PEINTEBS, ST. JOHN'S SQUABB, LONDON. 

C 310 88 












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